THE BROWNS AT SCHOOL

“It’s All Coming Back to Me Now”

2012-01-16T10:47:00.001-08:00

Me and the babies walking to get the boys from the bus stop on our last non-snowy, nice day.

It has been a strange winter everywhere this year, right? No snow for anyone! Except those poor people in Alaska with 15 feet or something. Crazy. It was so strange that I did something that I still can’t even believe that I did. The end of Josh’s schooling is finally in sight, by that I mean 2 1/2 years away still, but that is nothing compared to the 8 years we’ve been at it, and we were discussing residency places after he graduates. For the first time in the 5 winters we have been here I said, “I don’t think I’d mind staying here if we matched here.” What?! Every winter previous to this I would say something more to the effect of, “I want out! Send me somewhere warmer where I don’t have to bundle my kids up EVERY day in full snow gear to go to school!”

But this year was special…warmer, no snow. We have snow now, and I want to report that my previous feelings came rushing back as I took my first step over the mound of discarded snow pants, wet boots, hats, gloves, coats, and neck gators, just to have my freshly socked foot land right in a slush puddle in the middle of my floor. I want out! or at least I want a mudroom to contain all of the yuck. It really is winter now. My car is all salty. My socks are always a little wet, and then when I take those off because, brrr! wet socks make for cold toes, my bare feet land squarely on the bottoms of my cold wet pants which can’t help but soak up the slush as I try to push my grocery cart through a hardly plowed parking lot, rendering the wheels on that thing completely useless. It might as well be on 2x4’s because it’s through pure muscle power that this mama bear hurries us into the store to protect my cubs from the cold. So winter, now that you’re here, please don’t stay too long, I really don’t like you, not hardly at all.

Around Here

2012-01-10T08:20:00.001-08:00

Now use your imagination and take Jameson’s smile from the above photo and place it on his cute little fleece jacket in the below picture and then we have the perfect picture.

It has been a while since I wrote a general update post.

I mentioned before that Josh is working a lot. He is still working a lot, only even more now. I joked with someone at church that I see him 2 minutes a week, and I was willing to give up 30 seconds of my two minutes so that they could speak with him. He is gone a lot, but people’s sympathy expressed to me is completely unnecessary. He is blessed to be in the situation he is in, and so am I. We’re the lucky ones, so the next time the ladies at Wal-Mart look at me with my four kids and say, “My! You have your hands full!” I can honestly respond that yes, I do, but hands full of kids is better than most things.

On to this guy. He is almost 6 months old now. It’s nuts to think that this is how old Josie was when I got pregnant with Jameson. I stand by my original feeling…it felt crazy then, and it still does. Jameson, however, is my little squishy and is so worth it. Doesn’t his chubby face just look heavy with all those cheeks? He is such a lovable baby. He is a lot more accepting of others than Josie was at this stage. He’ll let pretty much anyone hold him as long as they’ll talk to him and smile at him. Josie was already exclusively mine at this point. It seems that to my babies my hip is the equivalent of a lazy boy recliner, because they love to sit perched there facing out at all the action. Jameson is no different, except he is heavy, and by the end of the day my not so sturdy back is screaming.

He started rolling over just before he was 5 months old, and then took off. Within the first day of rolling over, he could roll both ways (back to tummy and tummy to back) and then just started scooting all over. So at not even 6 months he is scooting all over the floor. Pretty good for a little chubby kid!

Jameson is sometimes the sanity at the end of my days. It’s his chubby neck and gummy grin that make everything worth it.

Jo dressed for church. Josie is…what’s the word for her? Josie is a riot. She is hysterically funny, sassy, stubborn, a tease, solemn around strangers, and delighted at the prospect of eating pancakes. She adores Jameson. She is for the most part gentle with him now, and lights up when he wakes up from a nap. He returns these feelings. She loves her older brothers, and one of the highlights of her day is picking them up at the bus stop. She is learning more and more words. She is easily won over if you’ll read to her, and moments of quiet come for me when she is occupied with Yo-Gabba Gabba. What a bizarre show!

William. Will is changing from a little boy to a kid. You know what I mean? It’s an interesting change for all of us since he is the oldest. He is smart as a whip. Just like his dad. He likes to read, but only if it’s non-fiction. He doesn’t see the point of reading about something if it isn’t true (also like his dad) He is Mr. Football right now. He is counting down the days until he is old enough to play little league football. If he is home you never see him without the football in his hands-if not in his hands then heading back toward his hands after he has thrown it up in the air for the 50th time in a row despite my constant warnings to “get that thing out of my living room!” He is still so enamored with his dad. I’m ok with that sticking. No need to grow out of that. Daddy is a pretty good one to have as your best friend.

Mr. Gigglesworth. I chose this picture of Isaac because he happens to be licking something sticky off his fingers, so it captures the true Isaac. Isaac makes us laugh all the time. At all the times as a parent when you are not supposed to laugh because they are misbehaving, you just can’t help it. Isaac proudly claims that he is the stinkiest in our family, and will some day be the chubbiest because of his love of junk food. The other day he got off the bus and told me that someone had thrown up on the bus that day. I asked if the bus was really stinky. He looked at me puzzled and said, “No! not because of the throw up. It’s only stinky around me when I fart.” Gross. I looked at him horrified that he was farting on the bus, and he quickly responding, “what? it’s just those quiet little ones!” That is our Isaac.

In addition to his silliness he is also a super sweet big brother. He now shares a room with Josie, and he takes such good care of her. (Between us, she loves him the most). He is doing great at school, and his teacher loves having him around.

Whew! See what I mean? We are blessed.

Christmas…From the Top!

2011-12-29T10:26:00.001-08:00

The boys and Jo eating Christmas Eve dinner. Josie looks like she could care less.

The kids in their new Christmas pj’s. Aren’t those babies adorable!

Looks like Santa came

Nana, McKenna, and Grandpa Brian skyped in to watch present opening. The kids are saying, “hi”

Our Christmas was brought to you in part by the NFL and Reebok. When the boys opened their jerseys they immediately put them on and opened the rest of their presents that way.

Josie and her new baby. She wasn’t completely sure what to do with the presents, but found herself quite tickled to get a baby and new shoes.

Isaac and his Packer pillowpet

The aftermath

We clean up ok, don’t you think?

Jameson’s little hand on his face is too cute

Josie getting ready for the Packer game that night.

We had a great Christmas. The best part for me besides seeing my kids to crazy with excitement was to just have my husband for a full day on Christmas. We drove to church together, and even came home together! It was a real treat.

Eye of the Beholder

2011-12-05T22:13:00.001-08:00

Our church was hopping this weekend. In addition to the yearly crèche display that was taking place, our ward had also arranged for a rummage. At our rummage nothing is sold. Everything is free. What people don’t want we donate to goodwill. Great idea. Right? As mentioned, the crèche display was being held simultaneously, and I was asked to perform at it. I had gone over to the church earlier in the day to practice my songs, and while there I meandered through the rummage. If you know me well at all, you know that the chances of me picking something up and taking it back to my house were slim. I love to get rid of stuff, not accumulate it. True to form, I easily walked in and out without anything.

Flash forward a few hours. I’m back at the church, this time with my posse’. The crèche is a relatively reverent event, so I knew we were in trouble when the boys both started whining about being “so bored they think they might die” after only being there two minutes. Josh had the great idea of sending them into the rummage while they waited for me to finish. I made it through, and was seated at a table listening to Sis. Treter play beautiful viola music, when the big wooden doors to the gym creak, loudly, open and in walks Isaac with his arms brimming with treasures. I’m sure that my face showed exactly the horror I was feeling inside, when he quickly said, eyes wide, “What? It was all free.”

I nearly tackled him when he said he was going back for more.

If you are wondering what the blobs are, they are soap sponges that grow when you put them in water. A gorilla and t-rex. I touched them to throw them away and I think they gave me a rash. I’m just sayin’.

Thanksgiving Surprise

2011-11-30T16:45:00.001-08:00

This year, the original plan for Thanksgiving was to go to my oldest sister’s house in Kentucky. With all the work that Josh is trying to get done, that kind of trip became pretty much impossible to do. Josh and I thought it would be fun instead to do a little mini vacation to Chula Vista. Then we thought, let’s make it a surprise!

So, on Wednesday afternoon I secretly got everything ready, and loaded up the kids to go get Josh at the lab so we could go to a buffet for dinner (something they love to do). We told them that we were going to a buffet that was pretty far away, so that they wouldn’t start whining when it took longer than fifteen minutes to get there. Surprisingly, we were at least an hour into the drive before Isaac started mumbling under his breath that he thought it was pretty dumb to go to a buffet that was so far away. Will didn’t seemed phased by the distance. Another 15 minutes goes by and Isaac starts complaining again. Josh and I decided to tell them at that point. It took a few minutes and hints before it really sunk in that we were indeed going to a buffet, and that it was at the Dell’s, and that we were staying overnight. The following picture captures that exact moment when the stars aligned for them.

Unfortunately, this is the last of the pictures from the fun getaway. I put the cameral in the glove box and forgot all about it. We stayed in one of their ultra nice 2 bedroom condos, that Josh got a screaming deal on at 90% off! Plus, he managed to land us our Thanksgiving dinner for free too! When we got in the room Isaac started hollering, “I never want to leave this place! This is the best place we have ever lived!”

Didn’t feel terribly Thanksgivingy, but I didn’t have to cook, so, all in all a pretty awesome time.

I never would have thought that we would have gotten so much use out of all the headbands Josie has. I was sure that by 19 months we would have moved onto barrettes and pony’s, but not so. She’s still pretty cute though.

A random bit, to everyone who wished me a happy birthday yesterday, thank you. 30 feels old, but my visiting teaching partner made me feel a little better. She remembered my birthday was coming up, and asked how old I would be. I told her 30 with my nose all scrunched up in disbelief that my 20’s were over, and she said, “oh crap! I’m more than twice your age!” My response to you, Jan, is I have twice the amount of kids as you, so that makes it a wash, right?

Because He Deserves it, and Other Stuff

2011-11-09T20:27:00.001-08:00

This is the typical scene whenever Daddy comes home. Really, an every day occurrence. Daddy dog pile. So fun.

This is also another classic daddy moment. He did it with Will, Isaac, and now with Josie, and each responds in a different way, but all love it.

“Down! Set! Hut! Hut!”

Will would run screaming (gleefully)

Isaac would attack him

Josie mirrors his position. It’s so funny.

Why the special tribute to fun daddy times? Well, because they are getting to be more of a treat with all the hours he has had to work lately. Josh met with his thesis committee last week, and we got the great news, that graduating with his PhD is pretty much a sure thing in June. Hooray! However, in order to make this happen he is working so hard. That is saying something, because he has been working really hard all along, but now it’s border line crazy. I know it’s so hard on him to not wrestle his babies every day, but I’m grateful for all that he does. Yay Josh!

Some other stuff…

Hey, Josie, do you feel the burn?

Oh yeah, mom, I’m feeling it!

If you look closely, you’ll see tears streaming down her face and her eyes are all red, but just try and take the chips and salsa away from her. I dare you. Trust me when I say that she didn’t mind.

At least I offered some relief.

I call the next series of pictures “Ooh, a little red light”

There aren’t many pictures of Jameson, because I’m always holding him while I’m taking everyone else’s picture, and you just read how daddy is shackled to the lab, but I did try the other night. He was so smiley and cute, but the red light on the camera got the best of him.

This was the closest I got to his normal face, and it isn’t very close.

Perfectly Squishy

2011-11-01T20:48:00.001-07:00

A Halloween post is on it’s way, but this picture captures the essence of Jameson’s super squishy cheeks. They are perfect for smooching and nuzzling your nose in.

Halloween 2011

It’s a lot of pressure to be a mom, for many reasons, but one of them is the fact that we are the keeper of all of the magic come holiday time. It’s fun, but work. So, with that in mind, what is Halloween without pumpkins?

I carved with the boys and Josh manned the babies. It was great!

Wisconsin is such a goofy state when it comes to trick or treating. In general they hold trick or treating on the Sunday nearest Halloween, but even that isn’t set in stone. Each small town, city or village can dictate what day and what time. It’s amazing any of us get it right. My kids hit the trick or treating jackpot this year by attending of ward’s trunk or treat, then trick or treating at MCW, and then hitting a nearby “normal” neighborhood on Monday night. They had a blast, so I guess the hard work was well worth it.

Random

2011-10-16T11:37:00.001-07:00

My mom and dad are on a mission now, and even though we only saw them once a year before they were on their mission, I’m pretty sure my home sick little mommy would appreciate a few more photos of her family…even if we aren’t the ones she is really missing

I thought I’d take a picture of the boys before school on picture day, so I could have proof 15 years from now, when they are looking at their old school pictures and wondering why I let them get their picture done with a big dirt smudge on their nose, or food spilled on their shirts, that we didn’t…it was all them. When you left the house you were sparkly and neat. Join the club of those of us with bad school pictures. It’s like a rite of passage or something. In first grade I thought that I was completely able to handle my hair on my own, and upon arriving to school on picture day with my lumpy, crooked pony tail, I was greeted with pity and the question, “Oh no! Is your mom sick today?” I told you, a rite of passage.

If only they were always so fond of each other.

Now, switching gears…

Last week play group met at a cute little pumpkin farm. I gave Jo a pep talk, dressed her like a farmer, and still I got the “you must be crazy if you think I’m going to get closer to those smelly goats!”

“Crazy lady! I aint touching nothing that requires an immediate dose of hand sanitizer and a trip to a washing station! Put me back in the stroller before I get the bird flu or something worse!”

Finally,

As was illustrated in the pictures to the farm, Jo has attitude, and she is all grown up.

Notice her highchair in the background. She started out there, and then very scary-like climbed out and parked herself at the big kid table to eat her pancake. Nobody puts Josie in the corner.

See what I mean? One of the big kids.

Poor Jameson wondering, “doesn’t anyone have control over this girl?!”

My sweet Jameson, the answer to that is-- not really.

All Smiles

2011-10-05T20:13:00.001-07:00

Wowee, look at how happy those kids are! I must be a spectacular mom!

Yeah right, this is a testament to how resilient they are, the fact that they can be so happy despite their challenged circumstances. Lately, I feel like I’m banging my head against the wall trying to parent my older boys. I’m going through a strange transition (at least it is strange for me) where they are getting old enough to think and do more for themselves, so in turn it requires me to relinquish some control—something I am NOT comfortable with. To illustrate what I mean, when we went for a walk the other day, Isaac yelled out, “Look! there is poop!” I immediately responded with, “gross! don’t step in it.” Isaac is five now and knows what poop is, certainly, he understands how undesirable poop on your shoe is, but I couldn’t help but warn him. As I pondered why I do this, it boiled down to the fact that I feel like if I warn him and then it happens anyway, not my fault! I told you! as if to wash my hands of the whole mess, but the truth is, whether I warn him or not, and he steps in a pile of poop the only thing I’m washing is the poop off of his shoe. Constantly telling them things that they already know causes weariness in me and frustration in them. More than frustration it causes the little stinkers to, dare I say it, rebel a little.

Some of our most trying conversations sound like this,

Me: “Will, you need to get your pjs on now and brush your teeth, or else no TV tomorrow.”

Will responds with: “oh yeah! (I know it already sounds ugly, doesn’t it?) if you take away TV then I’ll just be really loud and rowdy.”

Gasp.

Did he just threaten me?!

Me: “Oh no you didn’t! (long ugly rant follows)”

When did this happen? We are figuring it out, and while we do, I will take comfort in the idea that I still have two small babies who are completely happy with me calling the shots.

‘Round Here

2011-09-22T10:28:00.001-07:00

A few snip-its from our daily happenings.

Every day after school the boys rush home so they don’t miss a second of their favorite TV show. With this show a snack is expected,of course. Their excitement to see the show is equally matched by how excited Josie is to see someone other than me. So, here they all sit eating popcorn and watching Wild Kratts.

The careful observer may have noticed this ridiculous detail from the previous picture, but for those of you with an eye for the bigger picture…

Josie sports piggies now! Ok, there is pretty much more elastic there than hair, and still from the front, she is only kind of fuzzy, but it’s still fun, if not just plain silly. One day she’ll have hair. One day.

I used to think that my boys love for trains and automobiles was the enduring type of love, a love that would never diminish, but it has. They are all sports all the time. Unfortunately for them, there aren’t many kids around here for a pickup game of football, so some improvisation is needed at times.

This is Will in his “one man huddle”. His name, not mine. It’s so funny. He talks to himself and draws a play out on the grass and everything.

Isaac, zigging and zagging.

Often times, when asked nicely, they can even get Josie to come out and cheer for them.

Hmm…what’s missing? Sweet Jameson of course.

He had his two month check up. He is actually 9 weeks, but close enough. He’s getting round and squishy all over. He weighed 12lb even and was 23 in long. It was a pretty terrible appointment. Not for him so much, although he is the one that got the needles in his legs, but for poor little Jo, who upon entering the exam room was hysterical and insisted on being held and hiding in my neck the whole appointment. Of course, all of this with Jameson in my other arm. You would have thought the doctor would have come upon this and moved with a little haste, but it took just as long as always. By the end we were all exhausted, I was sweaty, and relief couldn’t come soon enough as I was able to finally put Jameson in his car seat and physically forced Josie into hers. Sure she was still screaming, but at least I wasn’t holding her anymore. She is at that lovely phase where unless you have something good to bribe or distract her with, every time I go to put her in the car I have to be sure that I’m well rested, hydrated, sure footed and up for a good wrestling match—motherhood aint for sissies.

Jameson

2011-09-14T14:23:00.001-07:00

I’m pretty sure that by 8 weeks old Josie had at least 6 posts just about her. I think Jameson has 1. This comparison should not be used in anyway to indicate how loved they are, but rather, how much more ridiculous life is around here now. I thought it long overdue that baby J get a post just for him.

Below are a couple of pictures that sum up what life is like for Jameson.

Notice creepy Will sneaking up in the background…

Notice Jo’s finger coming in to give him a swift poke while I try to take pictures of him on his special day…

There are more. So many more. It is rare to just get a picture of Jameson, and with that comes the rarity of moments alone with Jameson. Period.

A little about my 8 week old boy.

I don’t know how big he is, but he is definitely getting chubby. Just look at those cheeks. I don’t know how much Jameson would like some time to just chill on the floor or in his bouncy chair, because that can’t happen with Josie on the prowl. I’m not sure what he thinks of all of the craziness that surrounds him, but what I do know is that he has the squishiest, most kissable cheeks in the world. I know that one smile from him a day is all that I need to change as many diapers as he can produce, nurse him for hours on the couch as the other three tear my house apart, and bounce and walk with him for as long as he needs to help him fall asleep.

I was rushing around this morning, cleaning the house, and getting us ready to go to the store. I set Jameson down so that my hands were freed up, and I noticed after a while that he had quietly fallen asleep where I set him. I know that this should have made me feel great- A nap with no effort from me, but I felt bad. I feel like Jameson only gets attention when he is loud about it. To an overtired, overworked mom his drifting off felt like him giving up on getting noticed, and that broke my heart, so I stopped what I was doing and scooped him up. Josie was distracted pulling toys out and throwing them around the room, so it was the perfect time to just sit and snuggle.

We love you, little one.

Maid Service

2011-09-12T21:22:00.001-07:00

I was supposed to teach a lesson in young women’s yesterday on sacrifice. I was excited to do it. In fact, being able to teach felt like a real treat, because there was a high likelihood that I would be kid free while I did it. Selfish, I know. I didn’t teach, and that is probably for the best. Instead I went home because Jameson messed his outfit, and Josie turned into a ravenous beast that would not be satisfied until the nap she craved was delivered. It’s better that I didn’t teach, because the probability of me getting on some crazy tangent about how much mom’s have to sacrifice was pretty much 100%. The girls were spared the soapiest of soap boxes. Girls, you can thank leaky diapers for that. You’re welcome.

So, instead, I climbed right to the top of my high horse and delivered my message (loud and clear, mind you) to my family tonight for family home evening. I’m not sure how they felt about it all, but I feel much better!

In a flash of inspiration while vacuuming I came up with what seemed to be a brilliant idea to solve part of my problem. Taking care of four little kids is a load—of all kinds of stuff. It is a load of blessings, but it’s also a load of so much more, and it is heavy, heavy work sometimes. I mentioned before how selfish I am, and I am. One of my guiltiest selfish acts is needing to have the house in order around me. I can’t handle the clutter. This is selfish, because the rest of my family doesn’t seem to mind sitting in a mess, yet I insist that it be straight and picked up at the very least. Well, what I’ve found with our new addition is that has become increasingly difficult for me, alone, to keep up on this, and it is making me loony tunes! I pick up—Jo tears apart. I pick up—the boys come home from school. There is no need for further explanation, because any mom with school age kids knows full well what that entails. I pick up—Josh comes home. etc. etc. etc.

Now to my brilliant plan for fhe.

After reading D&C 42:42, which basically says if you don’t do the work, don’t expect to have what those who do have, and reading “The Little Red Hen”, I proceeding to fill a backpack with rocks that were labeled with all of the responsibilities that come with taking care of a family. I left out all of the things that go with running a household. I only included things like, picking up after them, feeding them, cleaning their clothes…the list goes on, but you get the idea. I ended up with 70 + rocks, and then I had each of the boys wear it, and told them to imagine wearing it all the time and never getting to take it off. Ever. They thought that would be hard. Then we went outside and I had them try walking a ways with it on, but while they were walking I got in their face and started screaming for them to “run! go faster! I want a pop tart now! I need my bum wiped! I need! I need! I need!” because you see, as a mom, it’s not enough that there are lots of things to do, EVERYTHING is urgent.

I think they got the picture. Then we took the rocks out that they thought they could help out with, and put them in their backpacks to help share the load. Their backpacks were still not too heavy, and mine was lighter.

Great lesson, right? Now the application, and this is the part I’m most excited about.

My kids love to earn and save money. They are always asking for jobs to do for cash. So, I thought that it was fair to reverse the tables. I pay them when they work for me, now they can pay me when I work for them.

My boy’s only responsibilities are to go to school and do their best, and to clean up after themselves. No heavy lifting. They aren’t scrubbing toilets or wiping down walls, just putting away shoes and picking up dirty clothes.

At the end of the day I’ll do a final walk through of the premises, and should they forget to put their shoes away or hang up their backpacks, I’ll go ahead and take those things. They become mine. The only way they get them back is to pay me for them. So, I imagine it will go something like this,
Them: “Mom, where are my shoes? I can’t find them”

Me: “Oh sweetie, you left them in the middle of the room last night. I picked them up, and if you want to wear them, you’ll have to give me $.20”

If I come upon a mess that they didn’t clean up, like say, play-doh (because there isn’t really a worse mess than play doh) I write up a bill for my services that they will then need to pay.

I figure this is so brilliant for my kids, because they love to save their money. They hate to see it go, so paying me will kill them, but on the off chance that they may have a bad day and leave their jacket on the floor, they will want to provide themselves a buffer and will probably jump at the opportunity to vacuum the stairs when a quarter is promised upon completion.

Well, we’ll see how it goes. I’ll either have a very straight house, with much less effort on my part, or I will be a rich woman. Either way, pretty great.

One Week Down

2011-09-09T04:39:00.001-07:00

The boys, waiting for their bus.

Will and Isaac have been in school now for a week, and it is going surprisingly smooth. I expected pretty much everything to be a disaster—both for them and for me here with the babies, but they seem to be holding up their end of all of this pretty well. When Will got off the bus the first day I excitedly asked how it went, completely expecting a slew of complaints to come tumbling out of his mouth, but he said, “It was a lot better than I thought it would be.” Can't ask for more than that! Anytime something exceeds our expectations that is pretty great. When Isaac got off the bus he said it was terrible and that he hated it. Knowing Isaac, this is exactly what I expected, so instead of responding with a horrified, “Oh no! Why?!” I just gave him a quick, “hmm” and talked to him about it when we got home while he was eating Cheezits. I knew with a snack going in that all the good things about school would come out. I was right. He has liked every day, and is adjusting to the full day great (so far).

That leaves me and the babies…

We are doing good. There are moments of pure ridiculousness, when Josie gets her mind set on something. Such as, when she insisted on wearing Will’s ski helmet while I was trying to get Jameson dressed after his bath. So we went from getting him dry and dressed to putting on the helmet, and then the last picture of Jameson speaks for itself.

1- Working on this

2- Must have this!

3- Resulting in this

The situation does, of course, reverse at times.

Jameson still spends a lot of time eating, keeping my lap pretty booked up, which can mean moments like these as well…

But, overall, it is good. I love that my big kids are at school, learning and being entertained, and I love that my babies are home with me so that in the few minutes they aren’t crying or needing something I can capture moments like these…

Lots-o-posts

2011-08-30T19:43:00.001-07:00

Whew! 5 new posts below. Scroll down to the first one if you want them in order.

All the In Between

2011-08-30T19:42:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned, August was full of visitors and fun. Here are a few pictures from all of the in between moments.

North Beach, Racine WI

One of the best things about having Josh off was that he was able to take the big boys to do fun things. They spent many afternoons at this beach. All of the sand in our vehicle will vouch for me.

We haven’t had much rain lately, but with the one big storm that did come through came the pleas to play in the puddles. Now, if I were the only one home with the kids those desperate cries would have fallen on deaf ears, but lucky for them, daddy was home and gave them just what their freshly bathed bodies hoped for. That’s right they had just got out of the bath, and daddy said yes. I would have said, “Absolutely not!” which is why it’s good we have dads; they help uptight moms remember that some things are more important than clean bodies, and extra laundry that may be produced by “fun”.

When Jenn was here she showed Will the app on her i-phone that shows you the constellations in the sky. Will thought it was so cool that he went out and decided to find his own constellations in the stars. It was so cute. He sat outside for 45 minutes or so looking up to the sky, and documented all of the things he found and then named them. Sometimes, he is such a cool kid.

Last but not least…

In between all the family and fun, there was always time to love on the baby.

The Grand Finale

2011-08-30T19:15:00.001-07:00

My sweet little family on Jameson’s blessing day.

Our final round of visitors got into town last Wednesday. Josh’s mom and step-dad came to meet baby J and be with us for his blessing. To say that the boys had fun with them would be an understatement. In the short few days they were here, they went to the Dell’s, to the beach, bowling, and to a real car race at race track. They were so spoiled by their fun Nana and Grandpa Brian. I was so spoiled too by all of the time Nana spent holding and caring for Jameson. It was nice to have my hands for a few days to get some things done

On our own, Josh and I could never attract this kind of traffic, but add one of these and family flocks to you.

Jameson looked oh-so-handsome in his white mini tux. It is the same outfit my other boys were blessed in. So cute.

His blessing: As I walked into the church with Tricia (Nana) I told her that so far none of my kids had cried during their blessings. I knew as I said those words I had jinxed it. He cried the whole time. I was so impressed that it didn’t seem to shake Josh. I would have been a rushed mess, but he was so collected and gave him a beautiful blessing.

Life with four kids is hard, but sometimes the greatest blessings in our lives are the hardest. Thank you to all of our family and friends that were incredibly supportive during the last 6 weeks. It has been a wonderfully, strange time. Josh had the whole time off, and just returned to work. The boys, of course, were off for summer vacation, but go back to school this week, so even though I’m sad to see them go, I excitedly say, “Go! Get out!” You all are cramping my style. I’m a creature that craves structure and routine, and having all you rowdy boys around has made that impossible.

Hooray for back to school!! (Love you boys!)

The Show Must Go On

2011-08-30T12:04:00.001-07:00

Act IV

(Grandpa and Grandma Gardner make grand exit)

(Enter Jenn and Leroy stage left)

Hi Aunt Jenn!

Something happened this August that I never thought would happen. Aunt Jenn left her temperate California home to come visit the frozen tundra. We couldn’t have been more thrilled. Thank goodness Jameson was born during the yearly thaw, or I’m certain this wouldn’t have happened yet. She brought along her boyfriend Leroy (Uncle Leroy to my boys)

Will and Leroy watching a fascinating documentary on tv. Will was in Heaven! Will was glued to Leroy’s side nearly their entire visit, just as he is in this picture. Leroy is a body builder, so is Jenn for that matter, and I’m pretty sure that by trekking out here to see us they met their #1 fan in Will. Jenn and Leroy combined = a lot of muscle, and thus, much food is needed to fuel them. I thought it was exhausting to care for a newborn, but Jameson is a nothing compared to feeding two body builders, that was tiring! and I loved every minute of it. Come back soon, but on your way slaughter your own cow, so I’m better prepared for your protein needs. Love you guys. Baby Jameson misses your sweet snuggles Jenn.

Supporting Characters

2011-08-30T11:45:00.001-07:00

Act III

It’s time to introduce some of the supporting characters.

My mom and dad came to stay for a week to meet Jameson, woo Josie, and spend time with the boys. This is a picture of my dad on one of the many walks that he went on with the boys. I could have sworn that after just one day of being with Will and Isaac, I overheard my dad say in his prayers…

“Dear Heavenly Father, please bless that Will and Isaac will get used to each other and not fight so much tomorrow…”

They fight a lot.

On one of the walks they went on, Isaac and Grandpa saw a dear with screwy antlers. They set out the next day to find it again, but instead ran into something much more interesting. Two screwy boys, with sticks on their heads. What are the odds?

While they were out communing with nature, the girls stayed indoors. Three generations of Schmidt/Gardner/Brown ladies. We really could have taken this on a day where I tried a little harder.

All that staying inside made us thirsty.

Thanks for coming Grandma and Grandpa Gardner. When we dropped you off at the airport the boys were so sad as we drove away. I asked Will how he felt, and he told me he was going to really miss you, because he really really likes you. We love you.

August…From the Top

2011-08-30T11:28:00.001-07:00

Wow. August was a very full month. I’m tempted to leave it at that and start with a fresh blogging start for September, but there was just too much good stuff to not write about. So, I present, “August” a lengthy blogging production.

Act I

Will turned 7!

He is a real boy now, no longer a little kid. He loves sports of all kinds, but has taken a real liking to baseball, skiing, and golf. He is a great big brother, although, if you ask him he is better at it with some of his siblings than others. He is completely aware of his shortcomings and prays often for Heavenly Father’s help. It goes like this:

“Dear Heavenly Father, please bless that me and Isaac can get used to each other and not fight so much tomorrow…”

When I got pregnant with Isaac, I was a little nervous about how Will would adjust to a sibling since he would only be 20 months when the baby was born. I expected it to be rough for a while, but a nearly 7 year adjustment was more than I bargained for

You are a great kid, Will, and we wouldn’t trade you for anything.

Act II

Josh turned 31!

If you look carefully in the picture above you’ll notice his arm lighting the candles on Will's cake. Happy Birthday Josh! That is the only picture I have of Josh on his special day, which admittedly, the celebration of this momentous event, got so lame when our first born came only two days before it. It is fitting in so many ways that the only thing we have to represent it is a picture of his arm lighting SOMEONE ELSE’S cake! Sad.

Sweetie, you deserve a full page layout of your greatness, and I promise in 30 years or so, when all the kids are gone, we will go all out and get a full picture of you, face and all! Happy Birthday, my dear. You are the best thing in my life.

It must be time for an intermission, because Jameson is screaming.

Centerpiece Idea?

2011-08-05T16:02:00.001-07:00

Sunday night, we were having pancakes for dinner. Josh and I were standing in the kitchen watching this very familiar scene unfold. This is how Josie prefers to take her meals. I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I thought we were transitioning with the addition of Jameson nicely, but reality set in when I watched Josie climb up on the table, then Will protested as Josie snatched his food right off his fork, and instead of being appalled that she was first, on the table, and second, stealing food, both Josh and I found ourselves saying, “Share with her!” Perhaps, we are functioning a bit in survival mode?

We have a lot of family coming to see us in August. Do you think they will be as understanding when our Josie-fly-trap perches herself at the edge of their plates and eats the food right out of their mouths?

Josie, doing what she does.

She couldn’t be more pleased.

But, as far as this one goes, we are doing great

1st Time at Church

2011-08-05T15:49:00.001-07:00

Jameson, spiffed up, and ready to worship

Last Sunday I spent the morning getting us ready for our first time back at church since Jameson was born. Getting there was pretty terrible. Too many people for one person to get ready! I will definitely need to tweak a few things before we do that again. I was able to herd the kids to the couch for a quick picture before we flew out the door.

Unfortunately, I was unable to get a picture where they were all posed nicely, looking at ME, AND smiling. Whatever. There they are. All four of them. I suppose that it is better I didn’t get them all holding still and smiling at once, since that has never happened, ever, in real life. Someone is always moving, and someone is always grumpy.

The Last Two Weeks

2011-07-30T19:50:00.001-07:00

Yes, Jameson. Do you have a question?

What has been going on the last two weeks? Lots. Two weeks ago, I was sitting in the foyer at church talking with two ladies, and they questioned me about whether I would be attending an event that was being held that weekend, and if not me, then would Josh be there. I told them very matter of factly (I don’t think factly is a word), that we would not be there, because I would be busy with a new baby. Sure enough, Jameson was born the next day!

The story of Jameson. If you don’t want to read a birth story, skip this paragraph.

Sunday, the 17th, I had contractions throughout the day, and kept waiting for them to turn into “real” labor. They never seemed to progress, and after 8 hours or so, they fizzled out. That was frustrating. Monday morning came, and I felt determined to have a baby that day. Silly, I know, since I was only 37 weeks as of that day. I must have instinctively known, because soon after breakfast I got the urge to do laundry, and not just a load, but ALL of my laundry. It felt very important to me. So, I loaded up the kids and headed to the laundry mat. We have a washer and dryer, but I really had to have it all done at once…for some reason. I put my 5 loads in the washers, and it was about when I needed to add the fabric softener that the contractions started. Strangely, though, they didn’t start gradually. They came hard and pretty close together from the get go. This was a little unnerving since I had sent Josh off to work for the day, and wasn’t really sure what I was going to do with my kids while I was in the hospital. Contractions continued. I put the clothes in the dryers, and really started getting nervous. The contractions were 5-6 minutes apart, and I was husbandless, babysitter-less, and had 5 loads of wet clothes. So, I called Josh and told him I thought we better go to the hospital. I called sweet Sis Daines, and put her on call, and I let my clothes dry. By the time they were done, contractions were 4 minutes apart, and I was starting to panic a bit.

We stopped at McDonald’s for the kids. Sis Daines met us at home soon after, and I was really hurting. I think it made her nervous. Nobody wants to see someone deliver a baby on a couch. Gross. Unfortunately, I didn’t stress to Josh the urgency I felt to get to the hospital, so he kind of took his time wrapping things up at the lab, and getting home. My contractions were coming hard and were 2-3 minutes apart when we headed out. I had called ahead and told my doctor I was headed in, so they were expecting me. When the nurse was walking me back, I told her that this would have to be the real deal, because I had a babysitter for my kids in place right now, and I wasn’t sure that I could manage that again. She laughed. I was serious.

She checked me right away, and you can imagine my shock when I was only a 3! It didn’t make sense! I was experiencing the kind of contractions that I felt with Isaac when I was an 8. How could I have been a 3?! My urine sample revealed that I was severely dehydrated. oops. I didn’t mean to be, but it is suspected that the dehydration led to the intense contractions and the frequency they were coming. Awesome-or not. So they hung some fluids and allowed me to stay in triage for an hour. If I progressed, I could stay, if not then I could go home. Thankfully, after an hour I had progressed and labor kept up just as strong even after the fluids. They made me have at least a full bag in me before they would even think about giving me the epidural. Finally, I had enough water and the epidural was placed. My doctor came and broke my water and very soon there after I was complete and sweet baby Jameson was out in two more contractions. Easy breezy, except for the few hours of hard contractions that were right on top of each other. He is so worth it though. So start to finish, I was only at the hospital laboring for 4 hours or so before he was born at 6:25pm. Weighing in at 6lb 12oz and 19 1/2 inches long. I don’t know how women labor for 24 hours plus. That is just crazy.

Flash forward to today, I was just outside with Jameson and Josie, and my neighbor came out, shocked that we had another kid. He said, “You couldn’t have had a baby! I’m sure that I’ve seen you around every day in the last two weeks.” He’s right, he has. I went to the hospital Monday afternoon, and we were home Tuesday evening. I can see how he’d be puzzled

I would say that we are transitioning well. Josh has 6 full weeks off of work, and it has made it all much easier.

There have been moments of craziness, and a lot of diapers to change. I laughed pretty hard when I noticed the diaper attached to Josh’s Velcro pocket on his bum.

I’m not sure what was happening in this picture, but that looks like a great way to restrain Jo when Jameson is around. The kids have loved having dad around so much.

We’ve all loved taking turns loving on him. So far, he is sweet and patient. He still sleeps a lot, so we will see more what he is like as he emerges from hibernation. It is crazy to have a 15 month old and a two week old. It’s good though. It is a constant reminder of how fast this first year goes. Too fast. Josie is a big girl now. Of her own doing. She is rough and rowdy like her brothers and loves to be down wrestling with them and her daddy.

Really long story short…Josh and I are unbelievably blessed. Thanks to everyone who has checked in on us, fed us, and has just been excited with us as we welcome Jameson to our family.

Peaceful

2011-07-26T13:14:00.001-07:00

All is quiet and peaceful here.

Well…umm…

Perhaps I should have been more specific? All is quiet and peaceful here, as in on my lap. The rest of this house is a stinkin’ zoo!

A Day in the Life of Jameson

2011-07-23T13:08:00.001-07:00

Here he sits. Innocent and unsuspecting.

Then Josie sniffs him out.

She sure looks happy. Wonder what she’s thinking…

Quick sudden movements are best when dealing with new infants. They never see it coming!

Poor Jameson. This is exactly what he sees. Ahhh! Scary!

Announcing…

2011-07-21T08:31:00.001-07:00

Jameson Gardner Brown

On Monday, July 18th at 6:25pm sweet baby Jameson was born. More to come on his arrival and how we are all transitioning, and how some of us aren’t (ahem…Josie) but I wanted to get a few pictures up of our little guy. He weighed 6lb 12 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. He is our biggest so far. He is going to need those 6 ounces he had on Josie to try to quickly gain strength to ward off her advances. He is healthy and handsome, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have him, and to not be pregnant anymore

Kind of the Opposite of Nesting

2011-07-04T19:47:00.001-07:00

We are down to crunch time with the next baby coming. Usually by now, I would be surrounded by rolls of paper towels, cleaning products, and scrub brushes, but something different is going on this time. I want to be out and on the move all the time. I think Josh has heard me say I want to see something new at least 100 times in the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately, we aren’t made of money and time is scarce for my mister, so it has resulted in a lot of trips to new parks. The other day I loaded up the kids and took them for a day in Oconomowoc (a small city in a neighboring county). They seemed confused by this excursion—with good reason, we have a park that is great just down the hill from us, but I had to go somewhere new. It’s also a little silly that we keep doing this, because pretty much every car ride looks a lot like this…

Here are a few pictures from two of our outings. The first is from a trip to North Beach in Racine. It is a great beach. Super clean. Tons of clean, non-rocky sand, and a huge play structure for the kids. It is a lot more family friendly than the Milwaukee beaches. Too many youngsters lookin’ to catch each other’s eyes at those beaches.

Josie after she followed Will into the lake and fell in fully clothed. Thankfully, Will was a good big brother and quickly picked her up and brought her to us.

If that isn’t the face of a happy kid in summer, I don’t know what is! Yummm, sandy cheeto fingers.

Even a little R & R for daddy

Always the model of fitness, Will doing what appears to be, a little Tai Chi on the beach. He is so Zen.

Next up, Grant Park.

Absolutely beautiful walking trail along Lake Michigan.

Josh and the boys, overlooking Lake Michigan

Josie and Daddy at Grant Park Beach

This picture makes me laugh. My big belly and Josie attached to my dress. Very common site for me.

The best walks include really big walking sticks.

Best Dad Ever

2011-06-20T22:13:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning as the boys excitedly dressed themselves for church BEFORE breakfast, I had to start fighting back the jealous feelings that would be present all day long. I helped Isaac button up his shirt, and he asked if I would give him a tie to put on. I was super surprised by this because he hates ties. They choke him! I questioned him about the accessory, and he said, “Mom, it’s Father’s Day. I want to look special.” They both rushed up the stairs to where Josh was still sleeping, and proudly showed him the pictures they painted him and the gifts they had chosen. They snuggled him close on either side, and I had to seriously fight back the urge to scream, “Where the heck was all of this on Mother’s Day!”

Well, after a lot of thought, I don’t blame them for their blatant favoritism. Daddy is amazing. He is fun. He is smart (if you ask Isaac, he’ll tell you that his dad is just a big fat brain). He gives the best snuggles. He is never afraid to be goofy with them. He runs faster than mommy. Hits the ball further. Throws a tight spiral EVERY time, and is the super star pitcher on his softball team. He is a little boy’s dream dad. When I realized all of this in my pondering, I thought, well, at least I have Josie.

On second thought…

He walks in the door and she lights up. He is out working all day, and so when he comes in and finds her scaling the stove, or up on a table his reaction is of joy and delight at his monkey daughter. To him she is full of personality---to me she is full of sass. You see there is a fine line between personality and sass. That line being drawn after 10 consecutive hours of all that “personality” oozing all over the place. To me she is sass, but to dad who has to work so much, she is full of life! I think I see Jo quickly joining the daddy fan club, and you know what, I’m so thankful that she is. I’m thankful that the work and time that I put forth in the home and with the kids allows their dad to come home each night, and to hopefully, feel unburdened by the work, and instead frees him up for a whole lot of loving. That is what he gets from us, and that is certainly what he gives.

Happy Father’s day, Love.

Stages

2011-06-15T15:11:00.001-07:00

Do you see it? That hint of mischief in her smile? Oh yeah, it’s there. She is trouble.

Who me? She innocently says…

Yes, you!

Because of your monkey-like antics, you have forced my hand to do something that anyone who knows me, knows that I hate!

This is my kitchen table. Missing something? Chairs.

This is my laundry room/bathroom. Seem a little squishy in there? It is. Chairs do not belong in the laundry room. Josie’s constant climbing has left me no choice but to remove the chairs and put them somewhere where she can’t reach them, otherwise, she is constantly climbing on them, getting wedged between them and the table, and of course, standing and trying to jump while on top of the table.

Will protested last night when we all stood and ate our spaghetti, but it is a battle I’m not fighting with her anymore, and he will have to get on board. Besides, I’m sure that standing while you eat helps with digestion or something. Really, this is a blessing in disguise

Weekend Fun

2011-06-02T12:14:00.001-07:00

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. It was the kind of weekend where you wonder why life can’t be more like it more often.

It started with the boys heading out for a mountain bike ride on Saturday. Will started mountain biking with Josh last year, and picked it up quickly, so they gave Isaac his first go at it. He did great. He had a tough crash, but can’t wait to try again.

Josie and I didn’t mind staying at home. They may have been mountain biking, but we had rubbermaid storage bins to climb on! and we could not have been happier about it.

We had a full Monday, and the weather was hot and summery (probably not a word) just how I like it.

We started with tennis at the park. Next, swimming at our pool. A super fun bbq with our friends the Daines’ with good food, a trampoline and rocket launching.

Then, home for naps, and back out in the evening to Lake Michigan for some serious rock throwing.

It was so nice. How do we get more days like these?

Sunday

2011-05-15T20:54:00.001-07:00

The boys got new church clothes. It only happens once a year, and that happens to conveniently fall during the after Easter clearance. Josh had to work today, so we snapped a few pictures of these handsome boys. Isaac chose something that did NOT have a tie. He says it chokes him, and Will wanted to look more like his daddy, so we went with a white shirt instead of a colored one, even though, I’m going to hate keeping this one white.

I think this picture is too cute. Genuine smiles are hard to come by, but I managed to get all three doing it at once…if only they were looking at the camera

Doesn’t she seem so grown up? She acts it too. In just the last week she has gone from a pretty agreeable kid (for me at least) to more of a “my way or the highway” mentality. Ugly.

Just incase I ever actually get my act together and have the blog printed in a book, I feel like every once in a while I should do a better job at giving a snapshot of parts of our lives. Not like air our dirty laundry, but share the things that are valuable to remember and not too much information for our poor unsuspecting friends and family. Sundays felt like a good place to insert an entry like this.

Sundays. Whew! That is how I feel after getting into the driver seat of the car with my three wild kids in the back, poking at each other and telling me in their loudest voices (our at least it seems that way) what they learned about in primary, only their version always includes some form of potty talk, and the baby is screaming because she needed a nap two hours ago, but still hasn’t had one, and I just close my eyes and say to myself, “We made it through another one.” I don’t even bother asking them to be quiet or knock it off on the short drive back to our house. There are times as a mom where we recognize that we aren’t at our best to deal with certain situations, so I’ve found it better to just not, until I have myself together. We roar into the garage, where I immediately close the garage door after pulling in, just to prevent a stray child from hopping on his bike and riding through the endless supply of puddles we have had this Spring, since it seems like we don’t go even one day without rain, and getting those nasty mud/grease stains all over their church clothes. Then mommy-robot kicks in where I manage to tune out all of the crazy that surrounds me in the forms of noise, clutter, and fighting, and I go into hyper-drive as I

1st: put that overly tired baby to bed.

2nd: Start at the top of the house and work my way down making beds and picking up random items and clothing that have been thrown about during the weekly Sunday tornado that visits as we race out of the house.

3rd: make the rowdy boys stop with the noise by getting them to put some food in their mouths

4th: realize after they have already started eating and spilled some on their shirts that they are still, in fact, in their church clothes

5th: get out the shout and treat the weekly Sunday stains

6th: begin making dinner for me and Josh, all the while wondering when he is actually going to show up

7th: sit down. breathe. feel tired, and think I’ll catch a quick nap, and then…Jo is awake!

Sundays are wild. I feel bad every week for whatever family ends up sitting near us in Sacrament meeting. I’ve managed to control the noise (or at least I thought I had until Josie discovered her shriek this week) but I cannot seem to get a handle on the constant movement. All four of us are literally all in constant motion for the full hour, and every once in awhile I’ll glance up longingly at Josh, sitting peacefully, and listening to the meeting, only to be startled back to reality as gold fish crackers fly all over, and Josie rips a page in a Hymn book.

All of that being said, I’m thankful that I get to do it. It is never easy, but it always feels good to know that I am where I need to be and am supposed to be, and that my kids have good people there that love them and teach them. I have learned to enjoy whatever stage I’m at in parenting, because just when I start to think I’ve got it under control, somehow, I’m shown that I absolutely don’t. I’ll appreciate these “calm” Sundays for a few more weeks, because I’m sure come summer time when baby comes they will have seemed like a walk in the park.

Lucky Me

2011-05-09T08:58:00.001-07:00

Will and Isaac with the flowers they picked for me for Mother’s Day.

As the day went on they just kept adding to the cup. They chose a plastic cup from Valentine’s Day with hearts on it, because hearts mean love and wrote on it with a Sharpie, “Happy Mother’s Day”. It doesn’t get much better.

Perhaps some women feel that Mother’s Day is definitely in order, but the longer I’m a mom and the more kids I have the less I feel that way. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is great that we set aside time to tell our mom’s how special they are to us, but as a mom, I want my family to be sure, every day, that what I do for them is a blessing to me. I taught a lesson this week for the Relief Society and Young Women on being a daughter of God, and there couldn’t have been a better preparation for me for Mother’s Day. The Hymn “As Sisters in Zion” has a verse that says

The errand of Angels is given to women and this is our gift that as sisters we claim: to do whatsoever is gentle and and human, to cheer and to bless in humanity’s name.

It’s a gift. It is because I am a daughter of God and because I have infinite value, that Heavenly Father has given me the gift of motherhood and the necessary divine attributes to accomplish it. So, with this in mind, you can imagine the surprise for my little family when after church I sat them down for a “talk” and told them how thankful I was to be their mom and gave them all gifts to say thank you. It is way more fun to give your kids and husband gifts than it is to receive them. Pretty good day for every one.

ONE Never Tasted so Good

2011-04-24T17:22:00.001-07:00

Sweet Josie turned one. She really ate up the birthday celebration.

I like when babies turn one. It is absolutely no pressure. Isaac turning five was a lot more work.

Had I known that buying one wax candle would have provided the magic we were hoping to create, then I could have saved the trouble of the cake and presents.

Josie did “blow” out a candle, but I had a cupcake with a candle for each family member and we all blew out our candle and made a wish for Josie. As the mom of all three kids I’m dying to know what they wished for, but then again, maybe I don’t want to know!

Are you noticing a theme here?

How about now?

Jo is working on a few teeth.

Josie in her Easter dress. I think she felt pretty.

I told Josie that Josh was leaving for Bishopric meeting, so she started waving “bye-bye”.

I would have taken a picture of the boys in their snazzy, new Easter suits, only they didn’t get any. I totally wait for that stuff to clearance AFTER Easter. Look for some sharp lookin’ brothers in a couple of weeks.

One year with Josie:

She walks. She tries to talk. She says a few words. She adores her brothers, and I think her favorite time of day is quickly becoming when daddy gets home from work. She absolutely lights up and so does he. After having two boys I wanted so badly to have a little girl. Wish granted. She is everything I could have hoped for. She is my buddy. Where I am, she is, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Still to be determined is how much she is going to like being a big sister. I have a pretty good idea that it will be a total disaster at first, but who doesn’t love a challenge!

With each baby I recognize more and more that these little creatures truly are heaven sent. Thank You for my blessings.

FIVE

2011-04-19T14:15:00.001-07:00

Isaac turned 5! His birthday was yesterday. I hope he had a good day. Isaac is full of life and lets all emotion show, so, we definitely saw the highs and lows of the day very much on display.

It started out great! Birthday donuts, and an eager older brother willing to share in every minute of birthday excitement.

Time for presents! Still pretty good, and still a hovering brother hoping that maybe somehow, by some miracle it might turn into his birthday too.

Isaac is managing to keep a positive attitude even though he was yet to receive what he had asked for….and what was that? One of those ridiculous motorized cars for kids that cost hundreds of dollars.

He got to the last present, and although it seemed unlikely that his desired vehicle would fit into the shoe box sized remaining present he hopefully tore into it. This was his reaction upon seeing the contents of the last present. After threats that he won’t get any presents anymore if he doesn’t start acting more grateful, he managed to put on a happy face.

Isaac just after blowing out the candles. He was happily enjoying his cake and ice cream and was half way through his second helping when he got a panicked look on his face and asked to be excused. We said sure, he started walking away and then turned back really panicked now. I went to see what was wrong, and found that he may have just gained a year, but he had lost a tooth!

Isaac’s new five year old smile.

Happy Birthday, Giggies!

Catch Up

2011-04-19T08:42:00.001-07:00

This one walks now. She started a couple of weeks ago. Now she really has the hang of it.

I tried to get her in action, but, well, not really.

Josie, wondering how the heck this thing keeps getting put on her head.

She is turning 1 on Friday. It went SO fast. There will be more on her sweet little self then.

Now to the boys…

Yep, this dates back to the beginning of April, but we’ve had a busy month. I wanted General Conference to be more meaningful for them, so we spent time memorizing the names of the first presidency and the 12 Apostles, so that when conference came we were ready to listen. I thought it would be easier to listen if they felt familiar with them. They each made a poster depicting something that they talked about and what their tie looked like, and now we will cover each talk over the next few months during Family Home Evening. It actually went really well. They went from not really having to watch any of conference to watching all four sessions!

As a side note, another activity I did was assign a special treat to each speaker, so that when say, Pres. Monson got up they could look at the treat list and they would each get a sucker, or something like that. Well, after conference was over, the next day, I was taking the treat list off the wall, and Isaac asked for a paper and pen. He continued to ask me how to spell “one thousand Jesus’”. He was making a new list for next conference! I was so proud of him. I thought it strange he was requesting 1000 Jesus’, but what a love for the Savior! I spelled it out for him, letter by letter, and when we were done, I said, “Ok, that spells one thousand Jesus’”. He looked very confused, and then exclaimed, “not one thousand Jesus, one thousand CHEEZITS!” Oh. That is so much more like him. We corrected his sign, and then he asked to add “and one Jesus”.

It’s Been A While

2011-03-30T10:59:00.001-07:00

I haven’t posted for a long time, and a lot has happened. With the upcoming arrival of baby #4, Josh and I decided that we needed to get Josie moving. There is only one of me and there will be 4 of them, so everyone needs to start pulling their own weight. Josie’s new assignment dishes. Thank goodness we have the dishwasher, because her preferred method of rinsing is with her tongue.

Speaking of baby #4. We had the ultrasound a couple of weeks ago. The baby looks great. We know what it is. We are going to keep it a secret from the blog, however. If you are one of the chosen few around here who already knows what it is….shhh! It’s a secret. If you don’t know what it is and are wondering why you aren’t part of the chosen few, then feel good, we love you so much that we think you might actually be excited to find out what we’re having, so we decided to make it a fun secret for you. This is fun, right?! We were going to keep it a secret from everyone, but that felt really strange when I was picking the boys up from school, and one of the other parents said, “Oh, do you know what you’re having?” I told them that we did. They of course, waited, anticipating a response, and then I just blurted it out. It felt down right silly to tell this acquaintance (at best) “It’s a surprise!” What do they care? I know some of you do care, and so to you, I say, “IT’S A SURPRISE"!”

My “Biggest Loser” Moment

2011-02-23T20:50:00.001-08:00

(absolutely, not necessary to read if you are only looking for kid updates or the funny antics of the boys)

A sweeter moment in mothering.

I should preface this by saying that this post probably never would have made it to the blog if Josh were awake. Normally, this is the kind of thing I would talk to him about, but he has headed to bed for the night, and the thoughts are all there, so I just couldn’t help myself.

Last night, Josh took Will skiing again, Josie went to bed at 7:00 and Isaac fell asleep on the couch at 6:30. That left a lot of down time for me. Did it have to be down time? No. Was there plenty that I could have been doing? Yes, but I didn’t. I wrapped up in a blanket and settled in for a very unproductive night of television watching. I happened to catch parts of the “Biggest Loser”. Normally, this is not a show that I’m thrilled to watch in a pregnant state, because it always makes me want to exercise, and by exercise I don’t just mean a brisk walk on the treadmill, but I watched anyway. Without going into too much detail, there are many parent/child teams this season, and this week there was a good chance that one of these parent’s children was going to be sent home if they didn’t lose enough weight. It is natural to think that a parent would do whatever it takes to ensure that their child gets the best, but I was struck by what I saw. Of the 4 parent/child teams, 3 of the parents chose to purposely gain weight that week so that their children would definitely lose more than them and be safe, but one father did something much more noble. I believe if I heard rumors correctly these guys might actually be Mormon, but that is neither here nor there. Instead of “sacrificing” himself, Moses, the father woke his daughter up at 5:00am every morning so that they could get an extra work out in before the day began for everyone else. He pushed her as hard as he could, and by doing so ended up saving her because she lost a lot of weight that week. He lost weight too. Neither went home. That is a real parent. There was a tough situation ahead of them, and they both fought through it, and got exactly what they deserved. The others were handed their places, and are none the better for it. Holy smokes! why the long synopsis of the biggest loser?!

I’ve been feeling like that lazy parent lately. The winter wears long, I’m watching my stomach grow, and thinking, “I just did this!” and just generally feeling blah. I watched the show last night and was impressed, and then while at the gym tonight I was reading from the March Ensign. I would post the link, but it isn’t on LDS.org yet. In it there is an article by Sister Beck. The whole thing is awesome, but there is one paragraph that jumped off the page.

“Live in your home so that you’re brilliant in the basics, so that you’re intentional about your roles and responsibilities in the family. Think in terms of precision not perfection. If you have your goals and you are precise in how you go about them in your homes, youth will learn from you. They will learn that you pray, study the scriptures together, have family home evening, make a priority of mealtimes, and speak respectfully of your marriage partner. Then from your example the rising generation will gain great hope.”

Precision. Why wouldn’t I need to be precise? Was the Plan of Salvation perfect and precise in it’s plan and execution. Absolutely. Is it naïve to think that Satan isn’t exacting a precise plan in destroying families and inflicting pain and suffering wherever he can? Most definitely. Why is my plan not precise? Why am I not dilligent and careful as I prepare to bring another spirit into this world? I need to be. What kind of parent is going to make the greatest difference in their child’s life, one who easily sacrifices for them, but teaches them nothing, or one who works hard, side by side as difficult situations come?

I am only speaking for myself here, but I know that whether I spend the day feeling blah and lazy, being more irritable with my kids, and getting less done, or if I’m precise in my mothering, and homemaking, and am fully engaged in the teaching and happiness of my kids, that I’m equally tired when my head hits the pillow. It is not as if lazy days make me feel better. That is never the case. I sink deeper into the blahs as the guilt is piled on top for all that I didn’t do. Tomorrow I’m looking for precision in my home. Not perfection…have you met us?! Not really a possible aspiration at this stage of the game, but precision is goal worthy. Wish me luck.

Lately

2011-02-21T08:58:00.001-08:00

Lunch with Josh at MCW. Isaac was thrilled to meet him up there, and if you notice the Jimmy John’s wrappers I was thrilled too!

I’m not really great at just writing about what goes on around here day to day. But, I thought that I would do a little post to write what has been going on lately. Yesterday was Sunday. Like every Sunday we go to church. My boys love going to church. OOh Wee, do they love it! A conversation that I had with Isaac while getting ready for church last Sunday went like this:

Isaac: I hate church!

Me: no, you don’t

Isaac: Why do we even have to go to church?!

Me: because Jesus wants us to and it makes Him happy

Isaac: I don’t think Jesus even likes church!

Me: What? Of course he does.

Isaac: Well, I’ve never seen Him there!

That’s pretty typical. I should mention that when we are at church and after Sacrament Meeting, they actually like church quite a lot. That sitting quiet for a full hour is painful for them.

Lately, people have been wondering how far along I am. The answer to this is, far enough along to not feel sick anymore. I actually feel great. Not far enough along to really be showing, but definitely far enough along to look fat. And, I’m far enough along to be wishing by the end of the day that my pants were not of the button variety, but rather the elastic. Or in other words….16 weeks.

Lately, Josie is getting the hang of being a great night time baby again. The winter and teething season have been long. It seems like if she doesn’t have a stuffy nose, she is working on a tooth. Both of which make sleeping tough. For about a week now, she has decided that she would also like a night without interruptions, and has just been a sleepy angel. Today I didn’t hear from her until 8:45.

Lately, I’ve been wishing that spring would get here quick. I’m anxious to get out. I want to be able to say that I got out of the house today and have it not be to the grocery store of the boy’s school. We are a walking, park going people, and it’s making us a little crazy to be stuck in the house.

Lately, I’ve become an XBOX goddess to my kids. We got all versions of Sonic the Hedgehog that were ever made for the Xbox, and my boys find it pretty surprising that I rock it! This is fun, since I am pretty much the lady that cooks for them and cleans, and puts them in time out. It’s nice to be idolized…now I know how Josh feels all the time.

Lately, we are doing the same things we always do, and feel so blessed to be doing so.

Love You Forever

2011-02-18T09:49:00.001-08:00

Valentine’s Night. Will’s got that crazy look in his eyes!

My boy’s were very excited to realize that Valentine’s fell on a Monday this year. They knew that would mean a pretty sweet family home evening. A holiday and family night are two perfect reasons for decorations and a little party.

Homemade pizza is one of our favorite nights, and what makes a pizza taste even better? Make it in the shape of something! Just ask the boys. The same holds true for pancakes, although, when I was making the heart shaped pancakes that morning and decided to add pink food coloring that might have been too much. Food that is the wrong color has a much different effect on the brain than food in a different shape. You expect every bite to taste like strawberry pancake, and then by golly! Nope. Regular pancake.

Our Valentine service bags. Instead of giving traditional Valentine’s, we wrote a service we would do for everyone and then put it in their sack-- that way we showed our family we loved them and we showed Jesus we love Him too.

Everyone Should Know

2011-02-16T19:28:00.001-08:00

Family knows. The whole Muskego Lakes Ward knows—thanks to daddy announcing it over the pulpit. It is high time that the blog knows.

But…

She doesn’t know yet, and when she finds out it won’t be pretty. So, shhh!

Do not be fooled by her sweet exterior, I am sure that a jealous monster lies inside, planning to make it’s debut around the beginning of August give or take a few. Until then, we’ll go on letting her bask in her sweet baby glory…before she watches her childhood slip away with my arrival.

Skiing

2011-02-14T12:52:00.001-08:00

It’s too bad Josh isn’t writing this post, because he would certainly know more details than me, but I’ll do my best to document something I was not there for. As a disclaimer, if anything is untrue, exaggerated, or completely made up, I find myself exempt from any consequences, since I was not there to verify the day’s happenings.

Let’s start with the facts.

1) On Saturday, Josh did pack Will in the car to make the one mile journey to Crystal Ridge Ski Hill. Josh just returned from a ski vacation to Utah where he skied at some world renowned resorts. I am not sure how this man made hill compares to such places, but I suppose a hill is a hill when you are just learning.

2) Will loved Skiing. Apparently, he took to it quickly, and his official ranking of the activity is that he gives it “one thousand thumbs up”.

3) At lunch time I took Isaac up to the hill. It was his turn to give it a shot. I suspected he might be less eager than Will, but left him in the capable care of his daddy. After only two runs Isaac asked to take a break. My suspicion was it had something to do with the pizza, nachos and chicken fingers that he could smell wafting from the Lodge. Upon our arrival, he said, “Ooh! There is something that sure smells good to my tummy.” As if I needed further proof that I really do know these kids, while resting after their two grueling runs, Isaac cleverly hinted to Josh that a great break might be taken inside with all that food.

After only a short time, Isaac was done.

Will was not.

Josh, who is an incredible dad to spend his whole Saturday doing this, took Will back up for some night skiing. Will was devastated at the idea of returning the rental skis and boots. He is a boy in love--In love with skiing. Josh is also in love with skiing. I better become in love with starving, because now that they both love skiing, we may find our grocery budget shrinking and our skiing budget expanding.

Thanks for a great day on the slopes, daddy! ah hem, excuse me…slope. It is just one hill.

Blizzard…Get Away

2011-02-07T12:14:00.001-08:00

Last Tuesday night into Wednesday morning we had a “blizzard”. That’s a lot different than getting snow. We got 18 inches of snow, or at least that’s what the news said, but I don’t know how they possibly know that based on the wind and the drifting. It was pretty wild. Luckily, we didn’t have to dig out of this (one of perk of our ridiculous association fee), so instead of a headache, we just got a really awesome chance to make a sweet tunnel system through the 5 foot drifts at the front of the house. Ok, ok, “we” is not exactly accurate. Josh and the boys are completely responsible for this fun. Josie and I were tucked warmly inside watching through the window. Josh is such a good dad to do this stuff. The boys are sure lucky. Josh is pretty lucky too, because I know that these things are just as fun for him as they are for the boys. That is a gift—one I was not given.

What do you do when you get buried in snow?

Escape to a huge indoor water park of course!

Thank you Chula Vista for another wonderful stay! So fun. When we ask the boys where they want to serve their missions one day, Will says California (he wants to be by the ocean) and Isaac says, “The Wisconsin Dells!” It’s just that fun. We met Tyler and AnnaMarie there. It was great to see them. We miss hanging out with you guys. The best part is the boys were big enough that we could just let them loose. They were so well behaved and Josie did great. If we were made of money we’d do this a lot more.

Part of the package that we signed up for included 4 games of bowling. On our way out of town we stopped and bowled. Icing on the cake after a great two days.

9 Month Check up

2011-02-07T11:45:00.001-08:00

Our Josie is a little over 9 months. I took her to that doctor’s appointment that I can’t figure out why we have it. No shots given. Just a check to see they are still growing—I guess. I mentioned at her 6 month check up that she was taller than usual for our genetic make up, but I knew she would soon feel pressure from the rest of us average to short people to get in line, and she has. She is still 27 inches long, but now weighs 17 lbs 9 oz. 2lbs heavier, but no taller… that’s more like it. She is wonderful. Her personality is emerging. A lot. Is personality the nice way of saying she doesn’t mind letting her crazy show every now and then? Maybe. Usually, she is absolutely a dream. We love our sweet Jo.

Isaac

2011-02-01T20:19:00.001-08:00

Yesterday morning, Isaac, Josie and I headed to the craft store to pick up a couple of things. The craft story is always risky business with busy boys who are gigantic and can’t be contained in a cart. There is too much to touch and too much to break. I asked Isaac to please stay right with me, and to be a good listener. He was great at first, but things deteriorated, and by the time I was checking out he was long gone. When we got back home, we had this conversation:

Me: Isaac, I was really proud of you when we first got to the craft store. You were doing such a good job, but the longer we were there the naughtier you got. I’m disappointed in you.

Isaac: Well, you know what, mom? When we first got to the craft store I really liked you, but the longer we were there, I liked you less and less. Now I only like you a little bit.

Me: Maybe we need a break from each other.

Isaac: Maybe we do. (at which point he calmly walked to the basement door, opened it and headed down)

It doesn’t get more real than that. Crazy kid.

9 Months

2011-01-26T04:54:00.001-08:00

9 months old already. It really has gone by so fast. There are 4 years between Josie and Isaac, so there are a lot of things that I had forgotten about babydom that Josie has brought rushing back. I love all the baby sounds. The babbling, cooing, talking, and growling are my favorite. Her growl is the best. She is continuing to try to be too big too fast. She crawls, she cruises, she has been pulling up since 7 months, but now she is a little reckless. She lets go! Sometimes it goes well, others result in bruises on her sweet little face. Her fondness for her daddy is growing. She still is a total mama’s girl, but she knows daddy = play time. When she sees Josh laying on the floor she can’t wait to crawl over and attack. The boys still adore her, and love to play with her…wonder how long that will last before they are begging me take her away so that she doesn’t bug them or get in their stuff. I know it’s on the horizon. Helping with dishes and emptying drawers are her specialties, oh and of course, toilet exploration is one of her unfortunate hobbies if a door is left open. She has had a little tummy bug that has reminded me that there is no better way to stay caught up on laundry than to have a sick baby. A load needs to be done after each nap, and diaper change. My washer is cursing her, but the rest of the family is fully stocked!

Best Kid Ever

2011-01-18T09:12:00.001-08:00

It is fitting that today I stop talking about the things that I know less about and start talking about the things I know for sure, and one thing I know for sure is that this kid, is a great kid. From the time Will was a small baby we’ve always known he was a “thinker”. He is smart. He is thoughtful. He is analytical, and he is thorough. The need for perfection and improvement flows through his little body. He is independent, and sure of himself. This has always been the case. Trying to reign all of these things in and get everything in sync has been a process. At three years old Will struggled with speech this sent us on a journey to get the help he needed. He started the early childhood program at Whitnall Elementary, and the progress he has made has been incredible. Today I met with the many people who have helped Will along the way and we all agreed that Will struggles no more. As much as there have been people there to help Will, it is Will who has done the work. I am proud beyond measure that academically he is soaring, and that socially he is awesome, but the thing that makes me the most proud is that every person that he has worked with in the past 3 years, and off the top of my head I count 15, have expressed what a joy he is. That he is a kid with an incredible heart. He is always striving to do the right thing. He is kind and sweet, and there isn’t anything I’d rather hear. Mr. Will, I am proud of you today. You just may be the best kid ever.

Whew! Controversial

2011-01-17T17:22:00.000-08:00

Catchy title. Ok, so not really controversial, but a post that draws any comments that are different than "cute kids" is electrifying around here. Perhaps I need to do a post-edit to be sure that its understood that I don't condemn women who enjoy thinking and doing things other than bearing, rearing, feeding and teaching children, or that have interests other than cleaning their homes and cooking for their spouses. Who doesn't? Most of the women I know are incredible examples of doing what's right and keeping things balanced. I look to them to help me be better, because heaven knows I'm a long way off, but hopefully, a post like that causes us to be willing to reflect on how we perceive our roles, how we honor them, and take note of how often it is a "burden that we are willing to bear", rather than a blessing to be enjoyed and learned from always. One thing I know that I am guilty of and have heard so many others do is to complain too much. We don't appreciate--at least not outwardly. I have to take stock of how many times my husband is greeted with a flustered, tired wife who wants to give him the dirt from the day, when he too has been working and serving. I know that when I do that I de-value (is that a word) his contribution making mine the greater work. In essence, I say to him, it doesn't matter what happened to you today, trust me, I worked harder and mine was worse, and now I, am entitled to some me time. See you later.
When I recognized that this is indeed what I had been doing, then how could I feel that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing by putting him first, before my kids, and even before my own needs. Maybe that's what it all comes down to. Maybe our husbands get lost in the shuffle during these hectic years of mothering young children. Maybe a lot of things do, but I think that as we all struggle to do it right, the answers to true happiness are right under our noses, in our homes, with our kids, and certainly with our spouses. When I try to "escape" less and be present more, really present, then I find there isn't anywhere else I want to be.
You ladies are all wonderful. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Refreshing

2011-01-16T20:36:00.001-08:00

The pictures have absolutely nothing to do with what I’m about to post, but quite frankly, these pictures have nothing to do with anything. Just my kids being my kids.

Josh took a few minutes away from work on Saturday to take the boys sledding. This is as far as they got in the getting ready process. Isaac is wearing nothing but snow pants, and I mean nothing. Thank goodness for mom’s who are motivated enough to have a few minutes of quiet that they will put in the 20 minutes it takes to get them out the door to play in the snow. On their own… they never would have made it.

Josie’s absolute favorite treat. She is leery of most people, but I’m quite confident if they had a popsicle, she may find her way to a stranger’s knee to beg a lick.

The title “Refreshing” doesn’t go with any of that at all! I know. Maybe to the few people who read this they won’t think it’s fitting even after I get done writing this. Maybe instead they would argue “old fashioned” or “behind the times” is more appropriate, but not to me. We had a couple over for dinner tonight that also have 3 small children. We’ve been trying to get together with them for a while now, but with Josh’s busy schedule, and they being in a similar boat of full time school and work, it has been challenging. Finally, it worked out, and I’m so glad that it did. This says something coming from me. I joke with people that I’m a “lone wolf” meaning that you won’t find me doing many social things. I just seem to be perfectly content hanging at home, with my little people, but I was glad to socialize tonight. I’m not like a social misfit or something—let that be known—or maybe I am, I don’t know. I was visiting with the wife (Tiffany) asking her what her interests are, and what she does to regroup after being alone with her kids so much. Her answers brought a huge smile to my face. Her interests…umm…stumped her! She doesn’t have a lot. She is with her kids, she serves well in the gospel, she supports her husband, but outside of that…umm…

Then, I asked her what she does to regroup or keep sane so to speak with so much time alone with her kids, and she said, “Well, with his work and school schedule I try to make sure that I schedule some time for me.” My smile diminished a little at this point, until she said, “so about every three weeks I try to steal an hour or two for myself.” I asked how she likes to do that. Her response, “you know, just take a quiet bath or something.” Loved it! I don’t want all of the "progressive” women out there hating on me for taking the feminist movement and moving it back 5 decades, but I think that we as women have gotten off course. I like my very traditional role . I’m comfortable that way. I know that a lot of houses do it different, and that’s fine; but at our house, I’m the wife and I’m the mom, and there is no time for more. I hear too often that women need “me” time. I feel like the family is deteriorating as we seek fulfillment outside of the home with increased measure. Certainly, I’m not the only one who recognizes that the sacrifice necessary to raise a healthy, strong family, is worthy of my undivided attention? At times, I have felt that I am, but it was refreshing tonight to see that I’m not. I believe that God wants me to be putting all of my energy, time, and talents into my home and family—a quest that absolutely requires a mother that is healthy in mind, spirit and body, but not necessarily with a planner full of scheduled relax times and girls nights, and crafting marathons. Maybe those moms are doing it better than me. Maybe they have the tricks that I’ve been too slow to pick up, but for me there is much to teach and much to do, and I don’t know how to do both, so I choose the one that means more. Tiffany you were refreshing.

Football!

2011-01-09T18:12:00.001-08:00

People talk about the let down after Christmas. It seems there is too much winter left and nothing to dispel the gloom that grey days and frigid cold bring, but at the Brown house, we believe that things really start to get desperate mid February- when football season comes to an end. The NFL playoffs have not disappointed…Go Pack! Go Seahawks?! My brother, Matt, at least is happy about that- a life long Seahawk fan with absolutely no ties to Seattle, but to each his own. Next Sunday is sure to bring excitement as we watch the Patriot’s dominate the Jets, and let’s not forget the college bowl series. The championship game is sure to provide ample entertainment, but the prize already came to Josh and I as we watched TCU defeat the Badgers. Hooray!

As you can see we expose the little ones early. Thanks for the wicked cute Utah hoodie Grandpa Brian and Nana.

A Bit From Christmas

2010-12-30T20:18:00.001-08:00

A week late, but a few pictures after the craziness of Christmas morning. We had a great day. The boys couldn’t have been more pleased. In Isaac’s letter to Santa, he only asked for one thing, so he was delighted to see Santa brought bonus presents. We didn’t do a lot of Santa talk this year. It was nice. I’ve found you don’t have to say much in order for them to grab hold of that deal, but we were able to spend a lot more time teaching the boys of the Christmas story and more valuable meanings of Christmas. I think that our teaching sunk in, at least with Isaac. We were headed over to our friend’s house for Christmas dinner, and I was telling the boys that their kids probably got new toys for Christmas, and they may not feel like sharing them yet, and that it was ok. Isaac’s response to this was, “Don’t worry, mom. Then I will teach the true meaning of Christmas which is about giving and sharing.” Clever.

No Christmas season would be complete without some lingering respiratory infections, of which, we all have. I’m going on 5 weeks. The boys, two (hence, the glassy eyes in their picture). Josie, one, and poor Josh is just coming down with round two of his after a hard fought two month battle with a cough. Tis the season.

7 Months

2010-12-14T07:02:00.001-08:00

At 7 months Miss Jo is growing fast. I have no idea how big she is, but she is a scooting machine. Last week I went to get her from her nap and she was proudly standing in her crib. She now pulls up on everything! Unfortunately, she has the judgment of a 7 month old and thinks standing under coffee tables and kitchen chairs are perfect spots. Its just a matter of time before were at that age where it seems like they always have a bruise on their forehead. Thank goodness for over-sized head bands and bows! We love you, Josie-pie!

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!

2010-12-14T06:46:00.001-08:00

My sister and I talk on the phone every day. Her kids are pretty much perfect, and mine are pretty much wild, but there was one thing that we could always feel superior about in our parenting skills. Our kids had never used the walls as coloring books. Well, another point to her, because apparently, my kids do.

I noticed this big mark on my wall along with a few others, and immediately began questioning the kids. Will was at school, but Isaac swore upside down, and inside out, that Will was responsible for the graffiti. I was skeptical at best. He insisted it wasn’t him, until I rounded the corner and found this…

What do you think?

Cute

2010-11-14T17:00:00.001-08:00

Kentucky

2010-11-14T16:42:00.001-08:00

We went to Kentucky over Halloween weekend. My oldest sister lives there, and we got to go stay with her for a few days. It was a lot of fun, and nice to get away. Ask me how nice it was to come home. Go ahead. I dare you.

Like a big dummy, I forgot my camera, so I don’t have Halloween pictures and pictures of my family at the Louisville Temple. I did, however, find it necessary to take this picture so when my kids are older and whine to me about how we never went anywhere or did anything, I’ll show them this, and maybe they’ll understand why. If that doesn’t work, I’ll be sure to set aside time where Josh and I can join them on one of their family vacations in the future so we can sit in the back and fight with everyone, and spill snacks all over, and ask a bajillion times if we are there yet. Love you kids!

My living room after unloading the car. I left the house clean.

6 Months…Check It!

2010-11-06T17:17:00.001-07:00

Josie is 6 months (and a few days) now. She had her check up this week. She is 15lb 4 oz and 27 inches long. 40% weight, and 75% height? Weird, I know. We aren’t the 75% height type of people, but Josie is helping us branch out. Step outside of our comfort zone, so to speak. I suspect she’ll soon feel the peer pressure of her family, and fall back in line with 50% or lower. We’ll get you!

Other things about sweet Josie…she is so fun. She is such a friendly baby. She is quick to smile at everyone, and for the most part is pretty mild. October was kind of a rough month for her. She got a yucky head cold, and then started teething soon after. My super star sleeper, has reminded me that she is in fact a young baby and not a sleepy teenager. Her mouth pain does wake her in the night, but I don’t mind. Cutting teeth is tough business. She rolls all over. She can scoot and pull herself along, and is threatening to crawl. Slow down, Josie. Not too fast, please.

Post(s)

2010-10-15T08:15:00.001-07:00

There are three new posts below. Be sure to scroll through all of them. I was too lazy to make each one elaborate, but didn’t want to have them hanging over me anymore.

Walk Around the Lagoon

2010-10-15T08:12:00.001-07:00

The month of October has been exceptionally beautiful. Hardly and rain, and lots of sunny, warm days. On Sunday, we headed out for a walk around the lagoon near Veteran’s Park in Milwaukee. It was beautiful.

They drug those big, tree limbs with them the whole time. Sorry to the other people out for a walk that may have had a brush with a weeping willow branch.

Sundae Store

2010-10-15T08:01:00.001-07:00

This was a very successful FHE we did this week. It is not my idea originally, so I can’t take the credit for it.

Ever since my boys have become friends with little boy a few doors down, Sunday’s have been a fight. Every Sunday morning begins with me waking up the boys, and then them lamenting Sunday’s and saying, “Sunday?! I hate Sunday!” They know this means going to church and being reverent for 3 hours, and then no playing with friends. So, introduce Sally Sunday, owner of the Sundae Store.

The point is to set up a sundae store where the kids can come in and order their sundae’s. I had two groups of toppings. One group that was appropriate for a sundae and the others that are also toppings, but not for ice cream. i.e.: ketchup, pepperoni, ranch dressing. I chose all toppings that my boys like, and then began assembling their sundae’s while choosing from the second group. On cue they would shriek, “Ketchup! Not on a sundae!” After we finished this and everyone had the sundae of their dreams we made a list of things that are not for Sunday’s and ones that are. They loved it, and called me Sally Sunday all night.

For Two Hours…

2010-10-15T07:49:00.001-07:00

For two hours every day, while the boys are tucked safely inside the elementary school, Josie and I get to do this. Can you tell when my favorite time of the day is?

Mother Heart

2010-10-13T03:50:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure when Sis. Beck was talking about developing a "mother heart" a while ago (I'd find the reference, but it's too early for that kind of thinking) that she meant to include that you will recognize that you have arrived, or are at least making some good ground when your child comes up to you with a panic stricken face and says, "I think I need some water..." and then the next thing you know a waterfall of stomach contents comes crashing down on your hands, legs, and feet (not to mention your brand new rug) and all you can think while your feet squish in the yuck is, "Oh, poor baby. I'm so sorry you don't feel well."
That is a mother heart! Am I right, ladies? :)

*I've been lucky to have had two opportunities to strengthen my mother heart this week. The above mentioned, and another having to do with a lot of bedding and a completely different child*

Update: Only Not Really

2010-09-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted, and I'm not sure why the post famine, except life is busy. Much busier now that the boys are back in school. That may seem backward, but it's true. Isaac only goes half day and I have to take him, so we have the hour of frenzy getting Will out the door in the morning and on the bus. Clean house, clean mommy, then it's time to frantically get Isaac out the door. We load up, drop him off, and maybe run a couple of errands while they are both gone. It's amazing how fast 2 hours goes by. Then it's time to get them--and then that is when the day really gets nuts. I'm sure other moms can back me up on this. Those couple of hours after school when kids are whiny and tired and hungry, and dinner has to be made and homework complete are pretty much ridiculous. So, there it is, an update. That's what we've been doing. More to come, when life settles down.

Isaac and Jo on a beautiful late summer day

Josie has been working on a little sitting up action. Pretty good, cutie pie.

Healthy Eating

2010-09-01T12:43:00.001-07:00

Ever since Will started school, he has been very cautious about eating healthy foods. Instead of chips with his sandwich he'll ask for carrot sticks and grapes. Isaac is completely opposite. All junk. All the time. He has no interest in healthy foods. If you ask him his favorite food, he proudly replies, "junk." As you can see in the pictures that follow, he was started early on this diet, and he has really clung to it.

Will often asks if something is healthy before he eats it, or which is the healthiest of two options. The other night they were eating pancakes for dinner, and I asked Will if he wanted syrup or sugar (don't scrunch your nose at the idea of sugar on pancakes, it is delicious). Will asked which is healthier. Toughy. Umm...well.... I started to say. But before I could answer Will piped in and said, "I'll have syrup. It comes from trees so maybe that makes it kind of like a vegetable." Boy is he going to be confused when he learns that sugar comes from plants, but that is neither here nor there. I laughed to myself and gave him syrup.

This morning after breakfast, while Isaac eagerly awaited the time to pass so that we could get to school, Isaac told me that now that he is in school he will only have syrup on his pancakes, so he too could be healthier. It's important to be healthy for learning. Only syrup.

Baby steps.

First Day

2010-09-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

Isaac's first day of K-4
Will's First day of 1st Grade

I have made a new resolution with my approach to motherhood. I value Josh's work outside of the home. He does a ton. That really is an understatement. I know that he is working hard for us, and so I want to be sure that I'm doing everything I can to maximize my time while at my work place. My goal is that from the time the kids wake up in the morning until they are tucked into bed at night that I will be working for the betterment of my family. That means no blogging, or hulu watching, or checking emails until after they are all asleep at 8:30. Here it is, day one, of my new job, and I'm already making an exception. The thoughts for the blog are here now and probably will be gone at 8:30, so I thought I'd better jump on it.

That said, school started!! HOORAY! This summer was long. For all of us. The boys were ready for this day. I was such a proud mama as Will confidently lined up for school without me there with him, and told me to have a good day as he got out of the car. Isaac asked all morning if it was time to go to school yet. He got himself dressed and his shoes on without being asked. Brushed his teeth, and even asked me to comb his hair. Anyone, who is even a little familiar with Isaac knows this is not only rare, but has never happened before. Ever. This is the same kid who likes to be "the king of naked day" and not get dressed. (For anyone wondering if we have naked day at our house, the answer is absolutely not! This is Isaac's own thing and quite frankly, he is the only one who celebrates it, much to the rest of our dismay.)

Finger's crossed that they have a great first day.

I like dropping my kids off at school. Not just for what seems like the obvious reason of the few hours of quiet that follows, but because I like to see other parents dropping their kids off. It seems like you hear so many sad stories of abuse, and families breaking apart, so much so that it is a little deflating, but I like to go to school in the morning and see loving parents drop off their kids with a kiss and a hug, just trying to do the best that they can for their kids. I know that I don't know the circumstances in their homes, and I don't need or want to know, but what is obvious in that moment is that their kids are loved, and that makes me happy.

4 Months

2010-08-31T18:10:00.001-07:00

Josie had her 4 month well check today. As I suspected--she is doing well.
She now weighs 13lb 8 oz
She is 24 1/4 inches.
3 more shots, but she is being tough. We love her to pieces!

Say it Ain't So

2010-08-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

We got to this milestone way too soon. Josie had rice cereal for the first time today. She did great. The last four months went by too quickly. My Josie is a baby now, no longer an infant. I don't know that I like that much.

Melting

2010-08-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure that every family has one of these. You know, a worrier. We have a worrier at our house. His name is William. If Will is watching TV or playing something that has his full attention, you can be standing right next to him, practically yelling to get his attention, and you likely won't get it, until you pull out the big guns. What might those be? Just mention the word fire alarm.
Now, before I go any further, I'd like to mention that I realize that this might in fact have lingering consequences that haunt him into adulthood, but it's the only way to get the kid to listen! I could tell him 10 times in a row, getting louder and louder each time that breakfast is ready, and not so much of a twitch to let me know it registered. But, if I happen to say, "Will, I'm close to the fire alarm" panic flashes across his face, and he quickly darts his attention my way. At this time I say, "Hey, your breakfast is ready." I know that it's cruel, but it works because Will is a worrier.
Living in Wisconsin, every summer there is the threat for "severe" weather. Will takes this seriously. He watches the news coverage intently to see that we are all informed. About a week ago, he was monitoring the atmospheric pressure and dew point readings for us as any six year old would, when they flashed a graphic on the screen of the country showing the hottest regions, and mentioned that the oppressive heat was headed our way. They weren't kidding!
Will tried to warn us several times that the "hotness" was coming, but like fools, we planned several outdoor activities anyway, much to his dismay.

First, a sizzler at Miller Park to watch the Brewers play the Diamond Backs. Will was quick to point out upon our arrival that the hotness was here.

You'll notice there are only pictures of the boys and Josh. Where are Josie and me? In the first aid station with nurse Mary. No worries, we are fine, but it was one of the only air conditioned rooms in the whole joint, and I'm pretty sure Josie would have turned into an adorable puddle of sweetness had I not sought cooler air.

Next, the ward picnic. No pictures. It was sufficiently buggy, hot, sticky and rainy. Nothing screams ward unity like being huddled together getting high off of each other's bug spray fumes, and feeling desperate to be sitting closest to the citronella candles. Muskego Lakes Pride!

Finally, on Saturday Josh took the boys out for a long bike ride. It was hot. Really hot, but that didn't stop them. Strangely, Josie and I also participated in this activity but from the comfort of the air conditioned vehicle. I strategically parked at stops along the route to serve as a pit stop and possible medic should things turn sour. They all did great.

Thankfully, we survived the "hotness". Today was beautiful. All is well...until Will let's us know that it isn't.

Forever Young

2010-08-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

May 22, 2003

Huntington Beach, CA

Josh turned 30. August 8th to be exact. Thirty is a big birthday by most people's standards. Teen years are long gone. Glorious 20's....over. BUT, my Josh is smart. Really smart. He has figured out a way to stay (or at least seem) forever young. Curious?

The trick is to never, ever, ever stop going to school. It's nearly impossible to feel or seem old if when filling out paper work at the doctor's office you write "student" on the line for occupation. It's like we are in a perpetual state of in between. Not quite young and dumb, and not quite old and stuffy. So smart! With the track we're on now, he gets to claim this for the next 4 years! 34 never felt so young.

Josh's birthday happened to land on a Sunday this year. It began with early morning meetings, frenzied church service, and then meetings/interviews after church. For his present he went to the PGA tour at Whistling Straits, but that wasn't until Monday, so he didn't even have a gift to open. He did get a raspberry cream cake, his dinner pick of chicken fajitas, and an afternoon nap with Josie, but I can tell you that none of it is sufficient to really celebrate our Josh. Taking on the roll of student for years and years is no easy task, and his burden is great! Being married to me is no easy task, although I'm trying to make it easier :) Being daddy to 3 beautiful kids is a wonderful task, yet not easy either. Serving in the bishopric- no easy task, but he does it willingly. Taking care of himself physically and spiritually seems impossible when faced with the obstacle of having to create time to do it, but do it, he does.

After writing out all that he does, thank goodness for him that he has managed to stay forever young, because no average 30 year old could do it all! We love you, Josh.

Oh My Goodness!

2010-08-09T19:58:00.001-07:00

A mini skirt has never made chub look so good!

SIX

2010-08-07T18:46:00.001-07:00

I can't believe he is six. We have been parents for six years, and I still don't think we know what we are doing. I'm just thankful we've all survived. Since Will was born we have lived in 5 different places, attended 6 years of college at two different schools, and have added two more people to the mix. Josh and I joke that Will is only going to know the "poor student" version of us, and miss out on the "we're finally not too poor for that" version. There is a possibility that he could be graduating high school around the same time that Josh is finishing residency, so that means that Will's dad will have never had a "real" job until then. I have a feeling that he won't think less of him, since according to Will his dad is his favorite person ever.

This picture was taken at about 7:45am. Will had already been up for nearly two hours because he was SO excited for his birthday. Unfortunately, he didn't go to bed until very late, also because he was SO excited for his birthday.

Overtired + extreme anticipation= Moments of complete ridiculousness for mommy, and a raging head ache.

Will opening his new remote control monster truck. We are taking bets on how soon they will break that one. (I give it one week)

Happy Birthday, William boy!

A Hairy Situation

2010-07-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

First:

Curly hair, and a lot of it.

Then:

A little at home barbering

Rock on!

Josie thinks she has a silly daddy.

Last:

All gone, until winter.

Moon Boots

2010-07-23T14:47:00.001-07:00

Conversation that Isaac and I had while he was sitting at the dinner table eating spaghetti.

I: Mom?

Me: hmm

I: Mom?!

Me: huh?

I: Mom?! Say, 'what!"

(Isaac insists that you say "what" when he is talking to you, even if direct eye contact is being made, and you have given some other verbalization to acknowledge that you are listening.)

Me: what

I: Did William go to the moon?

Me: (puzzled) what?

I: (frustration escalating) DID. WILLIAM. GO. TO. THE. MOON?

Me: umm...no

I: Then why does he have boots to walk on it?

Me: (eyes wide, head shaking, and big dumb smile that won't leave my face)

My Piece of Humble Pie

2010-07-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

Josie, a few days old.

Before, I used to hear parents say things like, "He has been sleeping through the night since two months old." Then I would say in my head, "that's not normal! that baby needs to be up eating! You are just ignoring it!" or something like that. I didn't think such a thing was really possible, but I'm happy to eat my big fat piece of humble pie and admit that it is possible! My Josie does it! Now, this being my third time around, I recognize that this could all change. Just when you think you know what to expect from a baby, they let you know that you aren't nearly as clever as you think you are, but...for now, she sleeps through the night. She goes down between 9:00 and 10:00 and wakes up to eat at 7:00am. Wonderful! She has always been a good sleeper. There is only one night since we've had her home where she woke up more than once in the night to eat, and then she wouldn't wake up for the day until closer to 9:00.

I didn't know it was possible. It is. It's incredible. Motherhood is SO much more manageable when you aren't overtired, and I'm thankful for that.

Brotherly Love, Part 2

2010-07-20T12:54:00.000-07:00

The following is a conversation I had with Will this afternoon:

Will: You want to know the pattern of how much I love people?

Me: Sure

Will: Daddy 503, Josie 502, You (mommy) 501

Me: What about Isaac?

Will: Oh yeah. I really forgot something!

Me: (waiting to hear Isaac's number)

Will: Me (as in himself) 503

Me: Oh, but what about Isaac?

Will: um...just give him the number that's at the bottom of all those. The smallest one.

I know they really do love each other.

Star Light Star Bright

2010-07-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

Tonight Will and I went for a walk just after dusk. We were talking and as we were nearing our house he said, "Look, mom! Just one star." I went on to tell him about wishing on a star and taught him the rhyme to go with it. He made his wish, and was anxious to tell me, but I told him to keep it to himself so that it would come true. (Who knows why that is part of it...seems a lot more likely it will happen if someone knows about it)
The first thing he did was run upstairs to his dad and tell him about the star and...his wish. (apparently, Will thought the keep it to himself rule was dumb too) I followed behind him saying, "don't tell, don't tell" but it was too late. He told. Will's wish was that we would have enough time to go swimming today. If you remember from a few lines up, it's already night time at this point, but Josh being the great dad that he is couldn't let Will's wish not come true. So, he stopped working on his homework (which he has a ton of today) and took Will to the pool at 10:00pm. For your viewing pleasure, we present night swimming, with Will and daddy.

Thanks, Daddy!

Brotherly Love

2010-07-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

To help lose the extra baby pounds, I've made a focused effort to play outside more with the boys. Will asked me to play soccer with him in the front yard. Thankfully, we have an abundance of TONKA trucks to set up goal markers. We had been playing for a while when Isaac decided to join us. Giggies took one goal, and Will manned the other. We rotated out who got to be the kicker, and when it came time for Will to be the leg man, this is what resulted...

Isaac pouting because he only wants to play with me and not with Will. To prevent Will from being able to play, he took both of his markers and put them together so Will didn't stand a chance of scoring on him. Clever, and mean.

It didn't stop Will from trying. You can imagine the hysterics that ensued as Will approached him with a full force kick. I swear that they do like each other most of the time, but they fight with the same passion they play with. All of it gives me a headache.

And for good measure, Ms. Josie.

Hello, Jo!

Icky Ticky

2010-07-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Mother Tick,

We found your stinkin' kid today. Where you ask? Embedded in the head of my sweet little Isaac. I know what you are thinking that's impossible! Rick the Tick didn't leave the bush all day...so, it is you who is at fault.

Next you are going to tell me to keep my kid from traipsing through your bush. Maybe you have a point, but as punishment for Rick burrowing into the wrong kid, he will die a long slow painful death of suffocation by Ziploc bag.

Sincerely, Mrs. Brown

Gross.
He was very brave.
Note to parents: If you are washing your kids hair and think how the heck did they get a sunflower seed to stick in their hair like that?! Look closer. It is a tick. Gross.

Family Day

2010-07-03T18:48:00.001-07:00

The Brown family had a full family Saturday. This is pretty commonplace for most families, but not for us. Our daddy is super busy, so it's rare that the day is spent doing fun things as a family. It was a great day. The kids did awesome all day, even the Josinator, and it ended with dinner out--everyone was happy :)

The 4th of July is upon us, and so is the ridiculously expensive Franklin City carnival. We let the kids go on a couple of rides each, and they loved every second.

Will riding some insanely fast ride that I was sure would give him the barfs...it didn't.
Isaac enjoying a little piece of Heaven.

Me and Gigs.

The cutest thing in the world.

Or maybe this is.

Pokies

2010-06-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

Pokies are the pits. At our house we call shots (immunizations) pokies. Josie got pokies yesterday--3 of them. I felt so bad for her. I always do. Then, usually, I feel bad for me for the rest of the day, because pokies make babies feel crummy. That is until Josie! She really is my dream baby. The boys had terrible days when they got there shots. They ran low fevers and were just grumpy. Not Josie. She would do this incredibly sad whimper when you touched her legs, but otherwise, she just wanted to sleep. She snuggled up on my chest and slept and slept. She usually goes to bed for the night at 10:00. Last night she went at 8:00 but still woke up at the same time this morning. She is an all star.

At nearly 10 weeks old, she weighs 11lbs 1 oz, and is 21 3/4 inches long. She gained nearly 3 pounds but only grew 1/4 inch. Hmm...cute.

Sweet as Sugar

2010-06-10T19:44:00.000-07:00

Josie 7 weeks

I can't get enough of this little girl. She is wonderful. Being the primary care giver to an infant is the best job in the world. It is super demanding, but the payoffs are enormous. Josie started really smiling about 2 weeks ago--awesome. When she is upset and unhappy in someone else's arms, give her to mom--calm. There is a special kind of love felt from a little creature that is quite literally dependent on you for everything.

A little bit about my girl:

Since we brought her home, she has been an incredible little sleeper. I only had one night where she seemed to have her days and nights reversed, and even then she was happy while she was awake. I'm not sure how long Josie would go at night without needing to eat, because it seems I always wake her at some point to feed her so that I can get some sleep, if you know what I mean. She has consistently slept around 6 solid hours every night since we've brought her home and when she does wake to eat, goes right back to sleep. Compared to my boys, this is golden.

She has started to become a little more fussy in the evenings, but even her fussy is cute.

Her brothers love her, especially Will. Isaac calls her "little precious", and Will is convinced that he speaks her language. They are good big brothers. When Josie is screaming in the car they try to calm her by singing this funny little song they made up that only has one line that they repeat over and over, "Please stop crying". It's so funny to hear. They also give her updates on how close we are to home so she can hang in there.

Josh is goo when he is around her. I love to watch them together. His eyes are absolutely filled with love every time he sees her.

We couldn't have asked for a better baby girl.

Josie's Blessing

2010-06-10T19:32:00.000-07:00

Josie getting her blessing dress put on by Aunt Alisha.
Josie and my oldest sister, Jill. She spent MANY hours crocheting this incredible dress. I can't thank her enough. It is beautiful.

Josie was blessed on Sunday, June 6th, by Josh. He gave her an incredibly special blessing, and it seemed to include the very things that I have been pleading with Heavenly Father to teach me how to teach her. Small miracles. We were lucky enough to have some of our family join us for this event. My mom and dad were there, my sister Alisha, my brother Jared and his wife, Melissa, and as a huge surprise my sister Jill and her husband Alan drove a long 7 hours to be with us--and what did I do to show my gratitude for this tremendous kindness they showed me? I completely forgot about them and almost made them and me miss the blessing! They were waiting to follow me to the church. They went out the front door, I went out the back, and zipped off the back way without one thought of them waiting in the front. In my defense, it was a hectic morning, and not one of the other three adults in my car remembered them either. Sorry Jill and Alan. Thank you to everyone who came to support us, it really meant so much, and I loved watching Josie get to snuggle into all those new family members.

Safety Days

2010-05-28T07:08:00.001-07:00

A wonderful lady in our ward told us that New Berlin was having "Safety Days" and that we should head over. She was absolutely right. My boys were in heaven. Every rescue vehicle imaginable was there to be explored, along with a miniature train giving rides, a climbing wall, and to blow up bounce houses. Heaven.

They were thrilled to be the caboose

Will tried a climbing wall at the 4th of July carnival last year, and found he was pretty good. A year later, and it's still the case.

The bounce house was the best part for the boys, but unfortunately, they proved too enticing for our sweet 4 year old, resulting in a mega meltdown when Safety Days was over. He literally refused to leave (hysterically so, I might add) until the bounce houses were deflated, rolled up, and loaded in the truck.

5 Weeks Old, and All is Well

2010-05-27T12:35:00.000-07:00

Baby girls have such an unfair advantage over baby boys. How can you resist a little creature with an over-sized flower attached to their head?!

The Josinator

Josie Update: Josie had a well check appointment yesterday and she is doing great. She is now 8lb 4 oz and 21 1/2 in long. She started out at 6lb 6oz and 18 in, so she is doing well. She is still a very good baby. Josh would argue that she isn't as good as I think she is, but that's because she and I are super tight since she is at my side 24/7--it's expected that she is better for mommy than daddy, right? First thing in the morning, just after she has eaten and been changed, we can get a couple of really good smiles out of her. So cute. It helps a lot to have waited 4 years for this one, because I can appreciate all of the cute baby moments instead of being consumed with all of the chaos that exists with kids under the age of 2.

Mother's Day

2010-05-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

Isaac and "Josie-Wosie" He is really big on rhyming everything right now.
Josh and I have decided that she can't help that little scowl. She is after all related to me.

My kids.

Perhaps a little out of blog character for me, this post will be more serious. It's not that I'm not a serious person, but when Who-knows-Who is reading this, I'm less inclined to make myself vulnerable with "seriousness", but I can't seem to help myself right now.

I have 3 kids.

It feels strange still to say that. When referencing my little family before, I would always say "my boys". I have a daughter. So, now instead, I say my kids. 3 of them.

Mother's Day is this Sunday, and Josh has asked me a couple of times this week what I'd like. I've told him each time that I don't want anything. In the past, I may have said such a thing as a ploy to test his love and see if he still gets me something. I'm past silly games like that. I know he loves me. No test needed. I don't want anything, and here is why.

My kids are on loan. They are not solely mine. I was allowed to participate in the creation of their little bodies and have been entrusted with the sacred responsibility of reminding them of the things that they already know. We think that we are shaping them into who they will become, and although this can be true to a certain degree, it is critical for me to remember they are already somebody. It is my belief that if I mother them the way Heavenly Father would have me do, then I'm not really directing who they will become, but rather helping them remember what they already know, and quite frankly, am teaching them ways to subdue the natural man so that their incredible spirits can shine through.

With this in mind, I don't want anything for Mother's Day. My kids are beautiful. They are sent to me from a Father in Heaven who loves them more perfectly than I can begin to know how, and I get to spend my life getting to know them. No gift necessary. They are the gift. Trust me when I say that I am completely undeserving of such gifts. I've done nothing to earn this privilege, and quite frankly, have done plenty to show that maybe I shouldn't be entrusted with them, but a merciful and omniloving Father has given them to me, and I couldn't be more grateful. If that weren't enough, He has also given me the opportunity to have them for eternity. What a gift to dedicate my life to their journeys, and I couldn't be happier or more pleased than to have Josh by my side committed to doing the same.

Best Mother's Day ever.

Wicked Speed

2010-05-03T11:42:00.001-07:00

Isaac, getting ready to go "wicked speed" on his two-wheeler. "Look, Mom! I'm doing it!!"
"I'm really good at my two-wheeler bike, Mom"

and he is really good at his two-wheeler. This morning Josh said that he was going to take the training wheels off of this little red bike, and maybe if Isaac wanted to try to ride a two-wheeler
he could, but I don't think either of us expected him to.

You need to understand something about Isaac. When it comes to natural athletic ability and prowess, our Gigs typically isn't the head of the pack, so when he asked Josh to help him ride this bike this morning, I think that both Josh and I expected one quick, failed attempt, and him deciding to stick to training wheels a little longer. As they walked out the back door for their first lesson, all I could think about was how awkward Isaac looks as he runs. It is best understood if you picture a poor child stricken with polio, and then think about what it would look like when he is able to walk and run without his braces for the first time. Limbs are flailing in every direction, but forward he goes, miraculously. Well, speaking of miracles, not even 10 minutes later Isaac came running into the house, saying, "Mommy, I did it!" I looked to Josh for confirmation, who assured me that this was indeed the case. It took only one time of Josh helping him before he was going "wicked speed" all over. He can even start all by himself. I will never underestimate this child again. Perhaps, I've been too quick to judge when I allow previous experiences with him to dictate how I view his potential. I will no longer view the time I found Isaac sitting on the couch in his underwear, asleep, with one hand stuffed into a giant bag of Cheetos, and the other down his pants as a clear indicator of what "type" of kid we are dealing with, but instead, warn you all that this kid could be president one day. You just never know.

Pictures

2010-05-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

First Sunday...she is a quick learner! Her brothers do the same thing when it is time for church.

Here are a few more pictures for the family wanting to see Josie a little less new. She is a wonderful baby! I didn't even know that Josh and I were capable of making babies that weren't always mad and screaming, but we seemed to have beat the odds with this one. She is beautiful. We love her, and how much she sleeps.

We Just Love Her

2010-04-25T13:17:00.000-07:00

Josh and I were both commenting on how this baby feels different than it did with the boys.
Maybe it's because she is a girl--I don't think so. I think it probably has a lot more to do with having two wild men running around CONSTANTLY and then looking over at that little peaceful face. We just know to be more thankful for this stage than we ever have been before. I'm in no hurry for her to grow up. Stay small, sweet Josie.

Details, Details, Details

2010-04-24T07:35:00.001-07:00

So cute!

Daddy is smitten

The boys think she is cute, but thankfully, aren't so impressed that they are constantly hovering over her. They have been good big brothers so far, and good helpers. It's nice they have each other with mom and dad so distracted.

Immediately after delivery. I'm not usually so scantily clad! This hospital was big on skin to skin contact, so...

I could not have been happier at this moment.

I purposely put the pictures first, so that anybody uninterested in the details could just see pictures and happily scoot on their way. For those not easily scared off, I invite you to continue.

I had my regular doctor's appointment on Wednesday morning at 10:00 (4/21). The doctor wasn't going to check me, again! but with a little whining the medical assistant convinced her to, and when I asked her to be "rough" about it so that we could get things moving, she offered to strip my membranes. I had never had this done before, and now recognize that this manuever could also double as incentive to launch oneself right off the exam table. After she was done, I was on my way with the understanding that if I were ready to go into labor anyway, this could help set things in motion.

I got home and started cleaning. Really cleaning. Scrub brushes, disinfectant, dusting, the whole bit. Thankfully, for my house the nesting instincts set in early, and remained until delivery. After Will got home from school, Josh had promised to take him on a bike ride to the dirt hills. We went and did that as a family, and as a result of being out, kind of missed dinner. We promised the boys a trip to McDonald's for dinner, and I was sitting on the couch waiting for Josh to get ready, and when I stood up to get ready myself at 7:30pm and noticed-WET! Huh?! My water didn't break with my boys, and I was pretty sure that I hadn't peed, but who knows, right? Thankfully, it wasn't a huge gush, and didn't cause much mess anywhere but on me. We called Darcy and Zach...thank you, thank you, thank you! who graciously watched our boys the whole time we were in the hospital, and called the doctor, who told me to head to the hospital.

Isaac was incredibly distraught as we moved around getting everything ready. My heart was breaking at seeing my little boy so upset by my having to go and disrupt everything by bringing a new person into our lives, until I listened more carefully to his cries which were less to the effect of you're ruining my life, and more like, "I want to go to McDonald's!" Oh, well, in that case. No problem. We took them to McDonald's, then to Darcy's, then got Josh some food at Jimmy John's. Now, with everyone fed (except me of course) and things conveniently taken care of, we could go and have a baby.

We got to the hospital at 9:30pm. My doctor offered to let me wander the halls of the hospital to get labor going strong, but with my current fluid situation this seemed less than appealing, and I'm pretty sure that housekeeping would not have appreciated the snail trail I would have left behind. Option 2: pitocin and an epidural--deal! My contractions did kick in on their own pretty quickly, and by the time the epidural was placed, even before the pit drip was started I was contracting every 2-3 minutes. With epidural in place at about 11:00pm, the nurse was trying to get me all settled in for a long night. I told her it wouldn't be that long, but she must have thought that was wishful thinking. I was a 3 at 11:00. Around midnight I told her that I was feeling pressure. She checked and I was a 5, but with baby's head "right there". By 12:15 I was complete. Ready to push.

Josie was born at 12:42am (4/22). I actually had to push a little for this one, although, many other mom's have said that 20 minutes of pushing isn't really pushing. It felt long after the boys, who were just a few pushes.

She is perfect. Beautiful. I knew I would be more emotional with her than I was with the boys following the miscarriage, and by virtue of having waited longer in between babies so I was less overwhelmed and just more excited, and I have been. I am so blessed. She is curled up peacefully sleeping on my lap as I type this. Daddy is taking a nap up in the bed, and the boys are downstairs playing cars. My house is still ultra clean ;) and all is right in our world. Blessed.

Little Lady

2010-04-23T08:52:00.000-07:00

Before...brace yourself momma

Happily, after!

Welcome, Josie Jacquelyn Brown.

Do we look happy or what?!

More pictures to come, and the details too. I just wanted to get a few up so family could have a peek.

Born: 4/22/10 at 12:42 am

Weight: 6lb 6oz

Lenth: 18 inches

Perfect!

Oh Yeah

2010-04-14T09:43:00.001-07:00

Most days I look down at my bulging belly and then up at my wild boys, and think to myself, "Why am I doing this again?" Then they go ahead and remind me why it isn't completely crazy by saying things like Isaac said to me this morning.
We were sitting on the couch together watching a movie and he looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I think that you are the prettiest ever." I snuggled him and told him thank you, and then he said, "You know why?" I encouraged him to continue (I'm self absorbed like that) "Because you wear the prettiest clothes and look the very prettiest when you come out of the temple."
A compliment like that is worth bringing a whole new person into the world. I'm easily swayed!

**baby update: I just got home from the most worthless check up ever! Apparently, my doctor doesn't feel the need to check you every week in your last month. She thinks it just adds to the aggravation expectant moms feel as the get overly anxious waiting for the big day. She may have a point, but who doesn't want to know if they are progressing?! I've been having a lot of discomfort and contractions at night time, but I know it isn't the real deal--probably just a result of the excessive cleaning I've felt compelled to do most days. I do have to keep reminding myself that I'm still 3 weeks out from my due date. I don't know how women go to term and then some, and not go absolutely batty. To my baby I say, "Bring it! baby girl Brown. I'm ready!"

Nesting?

2010-04-10T18:13:00.001-07:00

This morning I woke up and thought...

I should really clean behind the washer and dryer and underneath them. Yes, that's what I'll do! It all needs to be scrubbed down.

Am I nesting?

Thoughts on Jesus

2010-03-14T10:58:00.001-07:00

Whoah! Having church start at 8:30am is rough, but not as rough as having church start at 8:30am on daylight savings Sunday. I've never missed that hour more in my life! We made it though. Before I tuck myself in for a much needed afternoon nap, I wanted to share something Will said while feasting on Ramen Noodles after church. (Don't judge me--he begged for them)

Will: You know what, mom?
Me: What?
Will: I think it's good that Jesus gave me two eyes instead of one.
Me: (smirking) oh yeah, that is good
Will: but...it would have been better if Jesus gave me five eyes
Me: (smile broadening) how come?
Will: (while pointing to proposed eyes possible locations) that way I could see practically the whole earth at once, and see every single state. Farther, closer, it would all just be better.

How can you argue with that logic?

Chula Vista!!

2010-03-09T13:58:00.001-08:00

Several weeks ago, Josh and I, had the awesome opportunity to go on a vacation all by ourselves! Thank you Zach and Darcy for allowing that to happen. It was our first time ever doing something like that, and it was wonderful. We went to a resort at the Wisconsin Dell's, and on our last night there, received a call from their travel club. They proposed that we sit through their sale's pitch and we get a free night where we could bring our boys back...so, we did. It was so fun. As much fun as the waterpark was, I think the boys were equally excited about staying in a hotel room. Kids love that, right?

Will, excitedly waiting to go to the waterpark.
Isaac, in the waterpark. The lighting was terrible for pictures, and I don't know how to take a good one anyway, so there are very few that you can even tell what is happening in them.

I know. I know. I just wrote that I'm not a pregnancy picture kind of gal, but when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and saw how ridiculous I looked, we couldn't resist.

Me, and my sweet Joshie. Does he look tired or what? He was, and he is. My Josh works harder than anyone I know, and he still makes time for me and the boys. Thank you, thank you!

Hmm...probably should have rotated this one.

He was just so excited!

The boys had a great time. Josh and I loved watching them have so much fun. I will admit that the trip was more fun when I was less pregnant, but still, it makes you feel so great to take your kids to do fun things. So, Josh and I propose that all of our family and friends start making plans, because we want you with us next time we go to the Dells.

Hooray for families! Look at how fluffy Josh's hair is! He has only had short hair since being with me, but apparently, he has decided to try something new.

31 Weeks

2010-03-03T10:13:00.001-08:00

Please ignore the laundry on the table. That is really embarrassing.

31 weeks pregnant. I'm not one to take a lot of pregnancy shots. Some people love their pregnant bodies--I just tolerate mine. Darcy mentioned that I haven't taken any, so here is at least one. I'm usually pretty good about taking one before delivery though, so we'll see how much I grow in the next few weeks. I haven't written much of anything about this pregnancy. It has definitely been the most uncomfortable of the three. It has felt a little different than the boys, but that may very well be that it is round three, and things are getting tired. I don't know how my crazy mom did this eight times over. I'm pretty sure my parts would be sagging on the ground if I had to have 5 more. To my mom goes the award for "superior reproductive parts". Go mom!

I delievered Will 3 weeks early, and Isaac came about 2 1/2 weeks before D-day, so we'll see when this one arrives. Person who guesses right may take home the title of "superior guesser". I'd give you "superior reproductive parts" but that one is taken. May 6th is the due date. Give it a shot.

Ouch...Oh, well, That's a Little Better

2010-02-22T12:25:00.000-08:00

During primary we spotlight one child. This is the kids very favorite thing that happens, the full three hours they endure church, and they are always on the edge of their chairs, in hopeful anticipation that it will be them. Clues are read about the spotlight child, and guesses are made. Very exciting, indeed. Yesterday, will was listening intently, and the clue of "Who is your favorite person?" was read. The spotlight child's answer was, "my mom". Without hesitation, Will looked right up at me, and dejectedly said, "Oh, I know it's not me. My favorite person is my dad." Ouch. He does know I'm his mom, right?
A merciful moment was on the horizon for me, however. This morning the boys and I were talking about their full names. Isaac, excitedly listened as we went over Will's full name and his initials, and was anxious to do his, but obviously didn't realize what his full name was. When I explained to him his middle name was Joshua. He wailed, "I don't like that name! I don't want that name! Nooooooo!!"
That made it all a little better.

The Best Part of Any Family Home Evening

2010-02-03T16:46:00.000-08:00

Giggy-Monster
Wow!

Oh, what a difference two years makes!

Worked Great!

2010-02-03T16:39:00.000-08:00

Another family home evening idea in case anyone is wondering. We have been focusing on kind words and actions in our house lately. I must admit that I am blessed for now, because the most serious insult my boys can typically muster is to call you a burp. I know--not even a real insult, but to them it is very serious. They also use it in it's verb form when they are trying to be forceful by threatening to "burp you". Nonetheless, not very nice, so we did this family home evening about being kind, where we taught the Golden Rule, and explained that when we are kind to someone it is like putting candy in their cups, where if we are mean it is like filling their cups with rocks. We kept them out for a couple of days, and it all went well, and the message seemed to really sink in, until about day 7 when it all changed. Now instead of threatening to give you a good burping, they may threaten to rock you. I tried.

Two-Faced

2010-02-03T16:26:00.000-08:00

We are lucky at the Brown house. We may just have the most fun daddy in the universe. Josh is usually busier than anyone I know, but he always makes time to spend with me and the boys. Their favorite activity as of late are "tackle parties", and they are exactly what they sound like. Josh also hosts the occasional "snowboarding party" on the XBOX, another crowd pleaser. Both of these activities seem to be anti-mommy, because we are pretty sure that the baby would get broken in the tackle party, and as Will so tactfully puts it, I can't play in the snowboarding party because I'm not very good. Before our snow all melted Josh took them out to build a snowman. Of course, because we have two independent, strong-minded little boys, this would mean that two snowmen would be necessary, but Josh being the super smart guy that he is threw two faces on him and the boys were content.

View #1

View #2

Thanks to our daddy for all he does. Come home soon, because as Will would say, "Mommy isn't very fun."

Look, Feel, Help

2010-01-12T07:10:00.000-08:00

Last week for Family Home Evening we had a lesson on service. The boys listened fairly well, and then to put it all in action we made cookies and delivered them to some people in the Ward. The boys loved it. Everything about it. We delievered a plate to our Bishop, and the following day the Bishop called to thank Will for the cookies and the note that Will wrote him. After Bishop was through thanking him I prompted Will to tell him "you're welcome", which he did, but followed it up with a, "Maybe you could make me some cookies now too!" I swear that wasn't part of the lesson.
The rest of the week when I needed them to do something like put their clothes in the dirty clothes or run and grab something for me I was sure to phrase it with "Will you do me a service?" Each time I said it, they almost always were quicker to respond and do. It was amazing.
As a follow up lesson to last week we talked about kindness, and made these rockin' glasses that I found in an old Friend magazine. In addition we made thank you cards for Grandma Hall since she sent the boys snuggly Christmas blankets. I was sure, though, to allow them to practice what they had been taught by simply bringing up how nice it was of Grandma to do that for them, and had them 'look, feel, and then do' which made Will think that thank yous were in order.
Why this terribly long story? I am amazed at how little effort it takes to teach these young kids some really solid and sound principles and virtues. 15 minutes and a coloring page, with some minor modifications in how I talk about things there after, and hopefully, I've planted the seeds for service and genuine kindness. Pretty stinking amazing. In comparison to most of the other moms I know, I am mediocre at best, so just think what you all are capable of!

An Answer to Prayer

2010-01-07T07:12:00.001-08:00

Monday night we had gathered around the table for dinner, and Will offered up a very fervent dinner prayer, that went as follows:
"Dear Heavenly Father, help up to follow the prophet, help us to follow the commandments. Bless this food that it will get better..."

Tell me how I'm not supposed to take that personally. Ouch. Well, as was pointed out to me by my dad last night, perhaps the happenings of yesterday are a direct result of Will's humble prayer.

In the last 6 months we have had to replace our washer, dishwasher, and now our oven. Apparently 12 years is the lifespan on appliances or something, because our garage was beginning to look like an appliance grave yard. So, yesterday, in an effort to make us appear a little less trashy, I called an ad from Craigslist that some guy had posted who was just itching to have our junk, and sure enough within a half hour of calling he was here in his beat up, rusty toyota, threw all three appliances in the back, and just like that he raised our class level from "yes we park our cars on the lawn" to "we are just as sophisticated as you, we just choose to adorn our yard with tonka trucks instead of cherub fountains".
Which brings me to this beauty. I used it for the first time this morning, and I think I'm in love. No, it isn't THAT fancy, but it isn't a fire hazard (as was the one it replaced) it is A LOT nicer and the price was incredible. $170 at Sam's Club. The stars aligned...deal of a life time, right? or perhaps, just Heavenly Father extending his tender mercy on my little Will in an effort to help make this food better.

Christmas Day

2009-12-25T22:19:00.000-08:00

Santa came! Look at what he brought us! All of these toys...

an itchy bum for the Giggies...

a strange, puffy eye for William...

and the flu for mommy. I spent the day feverish, with body aches, and a terrible sore throat, but we made it through. The boys had a great time opening presents, and playing with them the rest of the day. Josh was gracious enough to let me sleep much of the day. I learned something this year. Will is now old enough that if he puts something on his Christmas list for Santa, he fully expects that it will be under the tree. This year he only asked for one thing (aside from the chimney of course) and that was a remote control monster truck. He didn't get a remote control monster truck. He did get a regular monster truck, but one you had to push yourself. Every present that Josh went to hand him he would say, "No, not that one. That's not the right size for the remote control that goes with my monster truck." Thankfully, the racing motorcycles he got seemed to make up for the HUGE disappointment of Santa's obvious mistake. Isaac on the other hand only asked for one thing too--a remote control dump truck. He just kind of copied Will. He didn't get it either, but that didn't matter, because nearly every present he opened was followed by, "This is just what I wanted!" I'll appreciate that while it lasts, because pretty soon Santa will be held to much stricter standards...nice try St. Nick, you better get it right next year!

Christmas Eve

2009-12-25T22:11:00.000-08:00

Will, proudly displaying the cookies and note he made for Santa.
The boys sporting their new Christmas pj's that Santa's elf left on the doorstep for them

Me and Josh, thankful that it is finally bed time

The holiday buzz was brimming in the Brown home on Christmas Eve. I'm pretty sure that I was completely sick of my kids by about 10:00 that morning with all of the Christmas excitement that couldn't help but present itself by way of obnoxious running, silly potty talking, and excessive bickering, but what is Christmas with kids without these things, right? Bring on Santa, let's do this thing!